DURHAM, NH - Kevin Osawe posted his 10th double-double of the season and put the NJIT men's basketball team ahead twice late in the game, but host New Hampshire scored the final basket of the contest to win 59-58 in both team's regular season finales on Tuesday evening.

The Highlanders scored the game's first six points and led 8-3 five minutes in before five-straight UNH points knotted things up at 8-8.

NJIT answered with the next 12 points to go ahead by a game-high 12 at the under-eight media timeout. The Highlanders once again led by 12 at the under four media timeout, but a late spurt from the Wilcats made the score 28-21 as the teams entered their locker rooms for halftime. 

Osawe was a big reason the Highlanders led at the half, as the graduate student scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the first 20 minutes. 

UNH opened the second half with another run and eventually tied the game at 32-32 on a jumper from Clarence Daniels with 15:41 on the clock. 

Christian Moore followed up Daniels' basket with a three-pointer to put UNH in front for the first time less than 30 seconds later.

The Wildcats extended their lead to as many as seven midway through the second half, but the Highlanders didn't go away easy. UNH led 55-49 with 4:13 to play before a 7-0 NJIT run that was capped by a Osawe runner in the paint put the Highlanders back in front.

Osawe's basket was answered with a layup from NIck Johnson with just over a minute to play, but Osawe was able to get the lead back one last time on the next trip down the floor, hitting a layup with 39 seconds left.

UNH called a time out and Kyree Brown was able to get to the basket to put the Wildcats back in front with 28 seconds to play.

NJIT couldn't score on its next possession, but Daniels missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with nine seconds left. Osawe grabbed the rebound and the Highlanders got the ball down the floor, but were unable to get a clean look giving UNH the one-point win and series sweep of NJIT after it also defeated the Highlanders earlier this month in overtime in Newark.

Osawe recorded his 10th double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Justin Anderson finished with nine points, his highest-scoring output in conference play this season.

Matthew Herasme led the Wildcats with 15 points, while Nick Johnson added 14. Clarence Daniels just missed a double-double, scoring eight points and grabbing a game-high 17 boards.

NJIT will head to Burlington, VT, on Saturday for the quarterfinals of the 2023 #AEPlayoffs. The eighth-seeded Highlanders will take on the top-seeded Catamounts at 7pm in Patrick Gymnasium.