Men's Basketball Defends Its Way to Win in Non-Conference Finale vs. Morgan State
The NJIT men's basketball team started its New Year's celebration early with a Block Party at the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center on Sunday afternoon, blocking 14 shots en route to a 69-53 victory in its non-conference finale vs. Morgan State.
Veteran big man Kjell de Graaf swatted away a career-high seven shots as the Highlanders led wire-to-wire, scoring the first 16 points of the game to build a comfortable lead early.
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VIDEO: NJIT Highlights vs. Morgan State
VIDEO: Post Game Interviews w/ head coach Grant Billmeier and Kjell de Graaf
Morgan State battled back after the early NJIT run and cut the deficit to as little as three late in the first half, before the Highlanders answered late and took a 38-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.
NJIT punched first in the second half getting a pair of early three-pointers from Adam Hess and Tariq Francis to go ahead by 14 and extended the lead to 15 twice before another run from the Bears made the margin eight, 54-46 with 9:31 to play.
That was as close as Morgan State was able to get. NJIT answered with back-to-back buckets from Elijah Buchanan and Mekhi Gray to make the lead 12 and led by double-digits the rest of the way before ultimately winning the game by a 16-point margin.
de Graaf was one of four Highlanders to score in double figures, tallying 15 points and grabbing seven boards to go along with his seven blocked shots. Gray also stuffed the stat sheet for NJIT, scoring 13 points, grabbing a career-best 10 rebounds and sending back five shots of his own. The double-double was the first of the senior's career.
Buchanan barely missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. Hess chipped in with nine points, while Francis, the two-time reigning America East Rookie of the Week added eight to go along with three rebounds and three assists.
NJIT's win was its second in a row, marking the first time the Highlanders won back-to-back games this season.
The Highlanders will look to make it three in a row on Saturday when they open the America East portion of their schedule against UAlbany. Tip-off is slated for 3:30pm back in the WEC.