GAME NOTES AT UALBANY 1.29

NEWARK, NJ – NJIT stays on the road and heads north as the Highlanders take on UAlbany on Thursday, January 29^th for a 6:30 p.m. start time.

UMBC Recap

• The Highlanders strong second half efforts fall short in loss to UMBC on Thursday night, 87-74.
• Junior Sebastain Robinson continued his strong start to conference play with 19 points.
• Graduate student Melvyn Ebonkoli finished with a season-high 17 points.
• Freshman David Bolden finished with 11 points, ten of which came in the second half, and sophomore John Kelly scored 11 points on 4-9 shooting from the field.

NJIT vs. UAlbany: All-Time Series

• This is the 17^th all-time meeting between the Highlanders and the Great Danes.
• The Great Danes lead the all-time series 15-1.
• Last matchup was last season where the Great Danes took down the Highlanders, 86-59, in Newark on 3/1/25.

America East Honors

• Fulton was named America East Co-Player of the Week (11/17) averaging 17.0 PPG and 12.0 RPG.
• Bolden was named America East Rookie of the Week two weeks in a row (11/10, 11/17) averaging 15 PPG and 6 APG.

Quick Notes:

• Grant Billmeier enters his third season at the helm.
• Ty Goode joins the coaching staff as an assistant coach after spending the previous three seasons on the staff at Fordham University as Recruiting/Video Coordinator (2024-25) and Assistant Recruiting Coordinator (2022-24).
• The Highlanders return nine players from last season, one of the highest marks in the conference.
• The Highlanders boasts a younger roster with 11 of its 15 members being either freshman or sophomores. The team also has three juniors and a graduate student.
• Newcomers to Newark include Melvyn Ebonkoli, Jeremy Clayville, Rocco Awad, Zack Scherler, AJ Altobelli and David Bolden.
• Bolden's 18 points at Fordham (11/4) is the most points scored by a freshman in their debut since Damon Lynn in 2013. Damon had 21 points at Tulane on Nov. 8, 2013.
• The last time the Highlanders started off a season 3-1 was back during the 2015-16 season.
• The Highlanders concluded their non-conference slate with five wins, which is their most non-conference wins since the 2021-22 season (5).
• The Highlanders took down Binghamton, 73-65, to win their America East opener for the first time since the 2021-22 season.

Next Up
NJIT closes out their three-game road stretch as the Highlanders travel to Vermont on Saturday, January 31^st for a 4:30 p.m. start time. Stay up to date on all things NJIT Men's Basketball throughout the season by following @NJITHoops on X/Twitter and Instagram.