New Jersey Institute of Technology Athletics

NEWARK, NJ - The NJIT men's basketball team hosted Seton Hall in a charity exhibition on Saturday and led for more than half the contest before ultimately falling 68-60 to the Big East opponent at the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center (WEC).

The Highlanders and Pirates played in front of more than 1,000 fans to raise money and awareness for Team Walker, a charity led by New Jersey native and Seton Hall Hall of Famer Jerry Walker.

"I thought today was a win-win for everyone involved," explained first-year NJIT Head Coach Grant Billmeier. "We were able to help out Jerry Walker and shine a light on his Foundation and Seton Hall was able to get to get on the bus for a game in Newark, just as they do for their home games four minutes from here at the Prudential Center. Our guys were able to play a Big East team in our building. Other than winning the game, I don't think we could've asked for something better, we had great crowd support and both teams battled hard."

NJIT led 38-33 at halftime after shooting 7-of-14 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes, but the Pirates were able to take the lead late in the second half before ultimately winning the game by eight.

Adam Hess drained four of NJIT's first half threes and led four Highlanders in double figures with 16 points. Freshmen Jake Goldberg (12 points) and Tariq Francis (11 points) also finished in double figures, as did senior Mekhi Gray. 

Goldberg and Francis both came off the bench and helped the Highlanders' reserves outscore the Pirates' bench 23-1. 

"Jake and Tariq brought great energy off the bench," added Billmeier. "Those are two guys that compete every day, play tough, and play with a chip on their shoulder."

The teams tied the rebounding battle with Kjell de Graaf's seven leading the way for the hosts.

Francis dished out a team-high-tying four assists and did not turn the ball over once in more than 26 minutes of action on Saturday. 

Kadary Richmond was the Pirates' top performer, scoring 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting, grabbing a game-high nine rebounds and tallying six assists. 

"It was a great battle by both teams," concluded Billmeier. "That's exactly what I expected from two teams from New Jersey."

NJIT will open up its regular season on Monday, November 6 when it takes on a Miami team that is coming off a 2022-23 season that ended at the Final Four.