VIDEO: NJIT Highlights
NEWARK, NJ - The NJIT men's basketball team came from behind to force overtime on Wednesday before ultimately falling 74-67 to visiting New Hampshire in America East action at the Wellness and Events Center.
Da'mir Faison's layup with 11 seconds to play answered a New Hampshire three-pointer which put the Wildcats in front 59-57 just three seconds earlier.
NJIT was able to get a stop on defense and called timeout, but a half court shot from
Paul McMillan IV rimmed out and the teams headed to overtime tied a 59-59.
New Hampshire opened the extra period on a 10-2 run and did just enough to leave Newark with a victory that improved its record to 6-3 in America East play, while the Highlanders are now 3-5 in conference action at the mid-way point.Â
Like many of NJIT's America East games this season, Wednesday's contest was close throughout. UNH led 16-8 early, but the Highlanders clawed back to tie it 21-21 and went into halftime down just one, 28-27.
UNH led by as many as seven on two occasions in the second half, but the Highlanders once again didn't go away, using a 12-3 run to turn a 10 point deficit into a two-point lead with 3:45 to play. The run was highlighted by a pair of three-pointers from
Adam Hess.
The Highlanders remained in front until Jaxson Baker's third three-pointer of the evening put the visitors back in front, this time 56-55 with exactly 3:00 to play in regulation.
Neither team scored again until
Kevin Osawe put NJIT back in front, 57-56, on a jumper with 1:35 on the clock. The score remained 57-56 for more than a minute before Baker hit another three-pointer to put the Wildcats in front and Faison immediately tied things back up.
Raheim Sullivan scored 14 points to lead three Highlanders in double figures. The veteran point guard was joined by
Mekhi Gray, who scored 12 points and Osawe, who recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds.Â
Faison put together one of the better games of his NJIT career, scoring eight points including the game-tying basket, and grabbing a career-high eight rebounds.Â
All nine NJIT players to enter the game found their way into the scoring column, including
Justin Anderson, who hit a late three-pointer to go over the 1,000 career-point plateau in his NCAA career. Anderson scored 965 points at Bloomsburg before transferring to play for the Highlanders prior to the season.
NJIT has now seen five of its eight America East games this season come down to the final possesion of regulation.Â
The Highlanders will look to bounce back on Saturday when they travel to UMass Lowell for another America East contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 1pm and the game will be streamed on ESPN3.
