NJIT Erases 22-Point Halftime Deficit to Earn First America East Win at UMBC
For the second time this season, veteran big man Kjell de Graaf put back an NJIT miss in the final minute of play to put the Highlanders in front and give them a victory, this time against host UMBC in America East Conference action on Saturday evening at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
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NJIT Highlights
Postgame Interview w/ NJIT Head Coach Grant Billmeier
de Graaf's put-back put the bow on a 22-point comeback for the Highlanders as they erased a 46-24 deficit with a 51-point second half to win the game 75-74.
Earlier this season, de Graaf cleaned up a miss from Elijah Buchanan with 2.0 seconds to play to give NJIT a win a Fordham. On Saturday, the sixth-year member of the program rebounded a Tariq Francis miss with 13 seconds to play and tipped it in to give Head Coach Grant Billmeier his first-career America East Conference victory.
After de Graaf's heroic put-back the Highlanders were able to get a pair of defensive stops to complete the victory.
UMBC scored the first 11 points of the game as the Highlanders didn't get on the scoreboard until Francis hit a layup almost seven minutes into the contest.
Francis, the five-time overall and three-time reigning America East Rookie of the Week, and classmate Levi Lawal combined for 20 points and 15 rebounds in the first half, but the Highlanders received little help from their veterans as UMBC led by 22 at the half.
"I challenged our guys at halftime and I didn't know how they'd respond," explained Billmeier. "They responded the right way."
The second half was a different story, however, as Billmeier's veterans stole the show, led by de Graaf, who scored all 18 of his points after halftime. Graduate student Adam Hess added 10 second half points, including three huge three-pointers, and senior Mekhi Gray had six points and four rebounds in the final 20 minutes.
Francis had nine points in the second half to finish with a game-high 22 points. The Pittsburgh, PA, native also pulled down nine boards in the game to narrowly miss his first-career double-double. Fellow freshman Jeffrey Akintolu also played a pivotal role in the second half, scoring five points and playing great defense over 18 minutes of work. Another freshman, Sebastian Robinson, ran the offense for NJIT during most of the comeback and dished out four crucial assists, while turning it over just once.
It was a tale of two halves shooting for both teams as the Highlanders shot just 33.3% from the field in the first half compared to 54.5% in the second half. UMBC made 52.9% of its shots in the first half and only 36.0% after halftime.
Marcus Banks was UMBC's leading scorer, finishing with 21 points, while also grabbing eight rebounds. Max Lorca-Lloyd finished with a double-double for the hosts, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 boards.
NJIT will look to make it two in a row on Thursday when it travels to Binghamton to complete the first half of America East Conference play. Tip-off is slated for 6:07pm at the Events Center in Vestal, NY.