Newark, N.J. – The NJIT men's basketball team fell at home on Saturday afternoon to Wagner, 50-43.
Sebastian Robinson led the Highlanders in scoring with 14 points, while
Tim Moore Jr. recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
How it Happened
In a low-scoring affair, the teams remained deadlocked after a tight first half.
Walt Andrews Jr. provided an early spark for the Highlanders with a driving and-one layup just under eight minutes into the game to cut NJIT's deficit down to one, 9-8. Following that, eight straight Highlander points came courtesy of Moore, including a thunderous alley-oop slam to tie the score at 14-14.
The teams went to the locker room knotted up at 18-18, but Wagner found some offensive footing in the second half with five straight points to start the period.
Ari Fulton connected on a three-pointer at 17:39 to break NJIT's scoreless drought, followed by a jumper from Robinson to jumpstart his big second half. The sophomore scored all 14 of his points in the second half, keeping NJIT in the thick of things against a Wagner offense which had begun to click.
Trailing by eight midway through the half, a three from
Tariq Francis and a layup from Robinson pulled the Highlanders to within three, 35-32, and prompted a Seahawks timeout. Wagner scored on a layup out of the stoppage to go back up by five, but a corner three from
Jordan Rogers inched NJIT back within two with 7:05 to play. That was as close as the Highlanders would get down the stretch, as a 7-0 Wagner run pushed its lead to nine and aided them towards the victory.
News & Notes
- Moore secured his second double-double of the season.
- Robinson's 14-point second half sits behind only his 19-point half against Morehead State as his highest scoring output in a period this season.
- 20 of NJIT's 43 points came inside the paint.
- While the Highlander offense struggled, their defense was strong in holding Wagner to jus 28.6 percent shooting from the field.
Up Next
NJIT will have two weeks off for the holiday break before flying out to Seattle after Christmas to take on Washington on Sunday, Dec. 29 at 3 p.m.
