Coleman's Double-Double Leads NJIT Men's Basketball Past FDU at the WEC

Miles Coleman scored a game-high 17 points and pulled down a career-best 10 rebounds for his first double-double as a Highlander on Wednesday as the NJIT men's basketball team held off visiting Fairleigh Dickinson 62-54 in a mid-week matinee at the Wellness and Events Center.

NJIT (2-2) is now 7-0 all-time against FDU (0-4), including 6-0 as a Division I program. 

"It was a tough, hard-fought win," explained Head Coach Brian Kennedy. "We knew they would throw a lot at us, and they definitely did. But, I think we handled it well."

The Highlanders started slow on Wednesday, trailing 10-2, but were able to quickly get back into it as a dunk from Souleymane Diakite put NJIT in front 22-21 with 8:07 left in the first half. The squads traded the lead several times, but a late 9-2 run from the Highlanders put the hosts in front 35-29 as the teams entered the locker room for halftime. 

NJIT opened the second half with a thunderous fast break dunk from James Lee and led by at least five the rest of the way until a three-pointer from FDU's Sebastian Lamaute cut the margin to four, 56-52, with 2:14 on the clock. 

Antwuan Butler answered with a tough layup as the clock approached the one-minute mark and the Highlanders went on to lead by as many as 10 in the final seconds, before a late bucket from the Knights made the final margin eight. 

Coleman only made a pair of field goals, but drew 10 fouls and made the most of it, sinking 13-of-15 free throw attempts.

"Miles was great agaist the press, and made the foul shots when we needed him too." added Kennedy. 

He was joined in double figures by Mekhi Gray, who scored a season-high 10 points, while Dylan O'Hearn (nine points) and Diakite (eight points) also factored into a balanced Highlanders' scoring attack.

Diakite tied Coleman with a game-high 10 boards, narrowly missing a double-double. 

Lee dished out four of NJIT's 13 assists as Coleman and Gray recorded three apiece.

NJIT blocked six shots and held FDU to just 31.0% shooting on the afternoon, while out-rebounding the opponent 42-39. Lamaute was the Knight's leading scorer, finishing with 14 points (4-of-6 3FG).

"The guys really picked up the intentsity on defense today," concluded Kennedy. "Our DNA is all about defense and rebounding and we won those battles in this one."
 

VIDEO:
NJIT Highlights
Postgame Interview w/ Brian Kennedy and Miles Coleman
Postgame Interview w/ Assistant Coach Joe Gutowski