NJIT Highlights
Post-Game Interviews w/ Brian Kennedy and Souleymane Diakite
Post-Game Interview w/ Asst. Coach Ricardo Rush Jr. 

NEWARK, NJ - The NJIT men's basketball team was without a pair of starting guards on Wednesday evening, but were able to use a tremendous defensive effort and won the battle on the boards by 12 to hold off UMass Lowell 59-55 in America East action at the Wellness and Events Center. 

"Our guys played with a chip on their shoulders tonight," said sixth-year Head Coach Brian Kennedy." We may have been down a few guys, but they all stepped up and made some great plays."

Wednesday's victory completed the season sweep of the Riverhawks for NJIT, which also defeated UML last month on the road. The Highlanders are now 11-13 on the season and 6-8 in conference play, while the Riverhawks dropped to 13-12 overall and 5-8 in AE action. NJIT currently holds the seven seed for next months America East Championship, but sits just two games out of second place and one out of third place with five to play. 

Four Highlanders scored 10 or more points in the win, and a fifth finished with nine, but the story of the evening was the team using its defense and rebounding to grind out the win without Antwuan Butler and James Lee, its two primary ballhandlers. 

The Highlanders held UML to 32.8% shooting from the field, including 9.1% from three-point range on Wednesday. The 55 points allowed was the second-fewest against Division I opponents this season.

"I credit that to effort and energy," added Kennedy.

NJIT made the most of the Riverhawks' misses, dominating the rebounding battle 47-35 as five different Highlanders pulled down at least seven boards in the win. Freshman Eyal Nankin, who came into the game with a career-high of just two rebounds, grabbed a game-high-tying 10, in a career-high 21 minutes of action. 

In addition to Nankin, Matt Faw (nine rebounds), Miles Coleman (eight rebounds), Souleymane Diakite (eight rebounds), and Dylan O'Hearn (seven rebounds) each had a large part in the Highlanders' rebounding advantage.

Faw and Diakite paced the NJIT offense with 13 points each, while Coleman and O'Hearn scored 10 a piece. Mekhi Gray, who was 7-of-10 from the foul line, with many of those coming in the final minute, scored nine.

"Coach asked me to bring energy tonight, so I focused on that," said Diakite, who is in his second season as a team captain. "He told me the rest will take care of itself, and that's what happened today."

Gray and Coleman each played the full 40 minutes as O'Hearn came out for just 52 seconds for the undermanned Highlanders squad. The 40-minute effort was the first of Gray's career and marked the second time Coleman played the duration of the game. 

Wednesday's win gave NJIT a 7-6 advantage all-time vs. UMass Lowell, but more importantly it gives the Highlanders a potential tiebreaker with the Riverhawks in what is shaping up to be a tight race for the top seeds in the America East Championship.

The Highlanders will look to continue their winning ways on Sunday, when they make the trip to Maine to take on the Black Bears. Tip-off is set for 1pm in Bangor.