Burlington, Vt. – Tariq Francis and
Sebastian Robinson combined for 41 points, 33 of which came in the second half, but the NJIT men's basketball's late comeback attempt came up short in a setback to Vermont, 68-64, on Thursday night.
Francis scored a team-best 21 points, scoring 15 points and nailing each of his three 3-pointers in the second half. Robinson, as he has done multiple times this season, exploded after halftime, scoring 18 of his 20 points after the break. NJIT trailed by as many as 16 in this one, cutting the deficit all the way down to two with just over four minutes remaining.
How it Happened
Vermont came out of the gates strong, building a nine-point lead midway through the opening half. The Catamounts did well at taking care of the basketball while turning NJIT over in the opening 20 minutes, taking a 10-1 turnover edge into the locker room along with a 34-20 lead.
The second half started with Vermont remaining in control, taking its largest lead of the game at 16, 41-25, at the 15:29 mark of the second half. From there, NJIT began to chip away. The Highlanders scored eight of the next 10 points, capped by a pretty pass from Francis to
Triston Wennersten for an uncontested layup. The Catamounts kept their lead at double figures until just before the under-8 timeout, when Francis flared to the corner and buried a triple to cut it down to seven.
Another Francis three with 7:33 to play brought NJIT within four, 54-50, but Vermont responded with the next four points to stretch its lead back up to eight. Out of a Highlander timeout, a beautiful setup led to another alley-oop slam from
Tim Moore Jr.
NJIT pulled within two with just over four minutes remaining after Robinson smoothly navigated his way through traffic for a layup. Vermont extended its lead back to two possessions over the next several minutes, but NJIT battled inside the final minute to try and eek out a win. A late Robinson layup got the Highlanders back within two with 16 seconds left, but the Catamounts buried their free throws late to scratch out the win.
News & Notes
- Robinson finished with 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds, the first Highlander in the D-1 era to post that stat line.
- Robinson has 5+ assists in four of his last six games.
- Francis is averaging 17 pts, 5.7 reb and 3.3 ast since returning from his four-game absence.
- NJIT has outrebounded its opponent in four of five America East games.
Up Next
NJIT wraps up its weekend on the road on Saturday afternoon with a showdown at UAlbany at 4 p.m.
