NEWARK, NJ– The NJIT men's basketball team wraps up non-conference action on Sunday when it hosts Morgan St. at 4:30 in the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center.

The game will be part of a doubleheader as the Highlander women host LIU at 1pm in the WEC. Dave Popkin (play-by-play) and Barry "Slice" Rohrssen (analyst) will have the call on ESPN+

All-Time Series
Friday's game is the first all-time between the Highlanders and Bears.

Last Time Out: NJIT 127, Medgar Evers 51 | Fri. 12/22 in Newark, NJ
Adam Hess set a new program record with 10 three-pointers and finished with a career-high 32 points as the NJIT men's basketball team rolled to a dominating 127-51 victory over visiting Medgar Evers in non-conference action on Friday afternoon at the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center (WEC).

Hess drained nine of those three-pointers in the first half to tie Damon Lynn's previous record, which he set on January 18, 2014 against North Carolina A&T. Hess finished 10-for-15 from deep as the Highlanders went 16-of-40 as a team from three-point range to improve to 33-0 all-time against non-Division I opponents and 26-0 against Division III squads.

Medgar Evers scored the first basket of the game, but it was all NJIT after that as the Hess hit a pair of triples during an 8-0 run. The Highlanders kept their foot of the gas pedal for the duration of the first half and led 72-27 at the break with Hess' 27 points leading the way. 

NJIT led by as many as 79 in the second half, before ultimately winning the game by the 76-point margin. 

Nine different Highlanders scored at least eight points, with five players finishing in double figures. In addition to Hess, Mekhi Gray (16 points), Tariq Francis (12 points), Kjell de Graaf (12 points), and Jeffrey Akintolu (11 points) all scored at least 10 in Friday's win. Akintolu's 11 points were a new career-high for the freshman. 

de Graaf also pulled down 11 rebounds (eight offensive) for his first-career double-double as the Highlanders dominated the battle on the boards with a 59-17 advantage. The double-double came in just 17 minutes of action as the Netherlands native didn't miss a shot all game, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 2-for-2 from the foul line. Justin Anderson pulled down a career-high eight rebounds to go along with his nine-point effort. Akintolu also played a big role in the rebounding advantage, pulling down seven of his own. 

Two freshmen - Isaac Hester (eight points) and JJ Chaikovsky (four points) - both scored their first-career points in the win.

NJIT assisted on 28 of its 44 made field goals with two more freshmen, Francis and Sebastian Robinson, leading the way by dishing out six and five respectively. Francis, the reigning America East Rookie of the Week, did a little bit of everything, scoring 12 points, grabbing six boards, dishing out six assists, and recording four of the Highlanders' 16 steals. Robinson, who has three America East Rookie of the Week honors of his own already this season, nearly mirrored his classmates stat line, finishing with eight points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals. 

ROOKIE(S) OF THE WEEK:
NJIT freshmen Sebastian Robinson and Tariq Francis are leading the America East Rookie of the Year race as the duo has combined for five of the seven ROW's announced this season. Robinson earned the honors in weeks two, three and four, while Francis took home the last two, in weeks six and seven.

Highlander Highlights
* Sunday's game is the 12th of the 2023-24 season -- which marks NJIT's 18th participating in Division I, fourth as a member of the America East and seventh in the WEC.
* NJIT's roster makeup is rather unique with nine freshmen, one junior, one senior, and five post-graduate players, including four in their sixth collegiate season
* The Highlanders are coming off a season-high three game road swing and Sunday's game is the middle of a three-game homestand. NJIT will play six of their eight at home from Dec. 22-Jan25.
* Kjell de Graaf is the most tenured Highlander as he is now in his sixth season with the program and played in his 100th game on Dec. 9 at Wake Forest.
* Tariq Francis was named America East Rookie of the Week the last two weeks, marking the fourth and fifth time in seven weeks a Highlander has earned that award. Sebastian Robinson was named America East Rookie of the Week three times this season.
* The Highlanders turned the ball over just three times on 12/16 at Niagara. That number is its lowest mark in 17+ seasons competing in Division I.
* Tariq Francis currently leads the America East in FT% (86.7), while Adam Hess leads the conference in 3FG% (44.7). Hess led the Conference in 3FG% last season, too (43.4%).
* Elijah Buchanan is averaging 17.0 ppg and 7.0 rpg over his last five games played.
* Kjell de Graaf scored eight points in the opening two minutes last Saturday vs. Niagara and finished with a career-high 17 points while playing a season-high 34 minutes. de Graaf is coming off his first-career double-double and averaging 11.6 ppg and 5.8 rpg in five games since returning from injury. His biggest two points during that stretch came on a put-back with 2.0 seconds to play at Fordham as they put the Highlanders ahead by one in the final seconds.

Next Up
The Highlanders wrap up their three-game homestand with their America East Confernce opener on Saturday, January 6 when they host UAlbany at 3:30pm in the WEC.

Stay up to date during the NJIT Men's Basketball season by following @NJITHoops on Twitter and Instagram and liking the NJIT Men's Basketball Basketball page on Facebook.