New Jersey Institute of Technology Athletics

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Evanston, IL - The NJIT men's basketball team was defeated by host Northwestern 70-52 on Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

The Wildcats are now 7-2 on the season, while the Highlanders will head into their final non-conference game of the season with an even 5-5 record.

Souleymane Diakite opened up the scoring with a layup on Sunday and after Northwestern tied it, Miles Coleman put the Highlanders back in front with a three-pointer.

The 5-2 lead would be the Highlanders last of the game, however, as Northwestern scored the next 11 points to go ahead 13-5 and held that lead for the duration of the contest.

The Wildcats lead was eight with two minutes to play in the first half, and after scoring the final four points of the half they lead 35-23 at halftime. 

Coleman opened the second half with another three-point to cut the lead to nine, but that was the last time the margin was in single digits as Northwestern scored the next 14 points to build a comfortable, 23-point lead.

Northwestern went ahead by as many as 24 in the second half before a late NJIT run cut the deficit to 15 before the hosts ultimately pulled out the win by the 18-point margin.

Coleman led the way for the Highlanders with 20 points, his second-career 20-point game, and eight rebounds. Matt Faw scored 13 for NJIT to go along with three blocks. Diakite joined Coleman as the Highlanders' rebounding leader, also pulling down eight boards. Antwuan Butler dished out five assists, while Dylan O'Hearn tallied four of his own.

Ryan Young led three Northwestern scorers in double figures with 13 points. 

The Highlanders will break for finals before returning to the court on Wednesday, December 22, when they travel to UMass for their final non-conference game of the season and last contest of 2021. Tip-off is slated for 1pm in Amherst, MA.