VIDEO: NJIT Highlights

Albany, NY - Despite a career-high scoring effort of 22 points from Diego Willis and another 22 points from Zach Cooks, the NJIT men's basketball team was defeated 83-75 by Albany in America East Conference action on Saturday at the SEFCU Arena.

"I thought it was a well-played college basketball game," said Head Coach Brian Kennedy. "My hats off to Albany and Coach (Will) Brown, they just made a few more plays than us."

Both teams set the tone early with impressive offensive efforts from the opening tip-off. Albany (2-5, 2-3 America East) scored the first points of the game, but NJIT (4-5, 3-4 America East) was able to quickly answer and eventually went ahead 7-5, which would be its only lead of the game.

The Great Danes scored 11-straight points after the Highlanders took the early lead and extended the margin to as many as 12 on two occasions as the midway point of the first half approached.

NJIT was able to cut into the lead, however, as Willis came off the bench and provided a huge spark, draining all four of his three-point attempts in the first half and also going a perfect 3-of-3 from the foul line. Willis' 15-point first half helped the Highlanders to close within three, 45-42, after 20 minutes of play.

"Diego has been playing well all season, he's given us great energy off the bench," added Kennedy. "He's a real hard-working kid and he shoots like that every day in practice, it was only a matter of time before it transitioned to the game setting."

Willis wasn't the only Highlander to heat up offensively in the first half as the squad shot 16-of-26 (61.5%) from the field and 7-of-11 (63.6%) from beyond the arch in the first half. 

While the teams cooled down a bit after halftime, the game remained close until the final few minutes. Albany initially jumped back ahead by six, but the Highlanders were able to close the gap and eventually tied it 58-58 on a three-pointer from Kjell de Graaf with just over 12 minutes to play.

The Great Danes answered the de Graaf triple with eight-straight points, however, and built their lead back up to eight at the halfway mark of the second half. 

NJIT was unable to get the margin within four down the stretch, ultimately falling by eight in its first-ever America East matchup with Albany. The Great Danes are now 6-0 all-time against the Highlanders.

In addition to Willis and Cooks, San Antonio Brinson scored 11 points to finish in double figures. Mekhi Gray, who made his first-career start, made both of his field goal attempts to finish with four points.

NJIT set a new season-high with 15 assists in Saturday's loss. Cooks and Dylan O'Hearn each dished out three to lead the way. Cooks also recorded four of his team's nine steals. 

Willis finished the game a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line and is now 19-of-19 from the charity stripe this season. 

The Highlanders and Great Danes will wrap up their two-game series on Sunday with a 5pm tip-off.