Second Half Run Pushes NJIT Past UAlbany on Saturday at the WEC
The NJIT men's basketball team used a second-half run to take a double-digit lead on visiting UAlbany, before holding off the Great Danes for a 74-67 America East Conference victory on Saturday evening at the Wellness and Events Center.
VIDEO: NJIT Highlights | Post-game Interview with Head Coach Brian Kennedy and Souleymane Diakite
Saturday's win evened the Highlanders' America East record at 2-2, while UAlbany dropped to 1-4 in conference action.
"I couldn't be more proud of our guys," said seventh-year Head Coach Brian Kennedy. "This was our third game in seven days and the first two went to overtime.It shows a lot about this group's character to bounce back from a tough loss on Wednesday and keep fighting and fighting."
NJIT led 44-42 with just over 13 minutes to play before a three-pointer from Kjell de Graaf jumpstarted a 15-2 run to give the visitors a comfortable, 13-point lead at the under-eight-minute media timeout.
The Great Danes didn't go away, however, and were able to cut the margin to five, but that was as close as they'd get thanks to clutch foul shooting down the stretch from NJIT.
Three different Highlanders - Kevin Osawe, Miles Coleman, and Souleymane Diakite - scored in double figures to pace a balanced offensive attack, while de Graaf finished the evening with nine points. NJIT also benefited from quality three-point shoot, hitting 46.7% (7-of-15) of their three-point attempts.
Osawe followed up his 18-point, 15-rebound effort on Wednesday with another 18-point performance, this time to go along with eight rebounds. Coleman scored 17 for the second-straight game, while Diakite narrowly missed his second double-double of the season with 13 points and nine boards. Two of Diakite's 13 points came on a thunderous dunk in the first half.
Raheim Sullivan scored four points, three of which came on a buzzer-beating three-pointer that tied the score 33-33 at the half. Sullivan also dished out a game-high six assists to go along with just one turnover. As a team, the Highlanders turned it over just eight times.
"Not turning it over was one of our keys to the game and we surely achieved that," added Kennedy.
Coleman and Adam Hess each drained a pair of triples in the win, with both of Hess' coming right out of halftime to give the Highlanders an early second half advantage.
The victory was the first in program history for NJIT over UAlbany as it came into the contest 0-10 all-time vs. the Great Danes.
NJIT will look to carry the momentum into Thursday's matchup at Bryant. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in Smithfield, Rhode Island.