Jan. 10, 2006

Box Score

NEWARK, NJ - The New Jersey Institute of Technology men's basketball team did a lot of things coaches like to see in its 82-69 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference win Tuesday night over visiting Wilmington of Delaware.

The Highlanders, now 5-7 overall and 2-5 in the CACC, had a balanced offense Tuesday, with five double-figure scorers--four starters and one man off the bench. Clayton Barker and Kraig Peters led the way, with 18 points apiece. Sophomore Kyle Edwards, making his first start of the season, added a career-high 12 points, while Marc Milbourne Swan scored 11 and Brett Johnson came off the bench for 10 points.

Wilmington had four double-figure scorers, as well, led by a game-high 21 points from forward Taurean Temple. Bradford Morris scored 14s, followed by Tim Sowden (11) and Chris Rogers (10).

The Highlanders' 82 points was one short of their season single-game high and it was their highest output in a win. Their .538 percentage on 35-for-65 shooting from the field was a season-high, as was their 7-for-15 from three-point range. Not surprisingly, they shared the ball, notching a season-best 22 assists, with starting guards Barker and Courcy Magnus each handing out 6 assists.

After being outrebounded in last Saturday's disappointing loss at the University of the Sciences, the Highlanders responded with a dominant effort on the boards against Wilmington, pulling down 47 rebounds to just 22 for the visitors. Milbourne Swan led, with a game-high 9 rebounds, followed closely by Edwards' 8 boards.

Balance was a predominant theme on the box score for NJIT, as all nine players registered at least a point to go with the fact that five of them scored in double figures. Eight of the nine players got at least one rebound and five of them came down with at least five rebounds. And seven of the nine Highlanders registered at least one assist.

Coming off the loss at USP in which they were outplayed steadily and thoroughly, the Highlanders set the tone early on Tuesday, scoring the game's first eight points and claiming a 23-8 lead by the 10:42 mark of the first half.

While the night was marked by NJIT's balanced effort, the early leader was Peters. The explosive sophomore scored 13 of the Highlanders' first 17 points, showing a range of skills that included three-point buckets and a length-of-the-court drive and layup.

Up by as many as 19, NJIT held a comfortable 45-31 lead at the half, with Peters' 13 points followed by Barker, checked in with 11 first-half points in his return to the lineup after missing the USP game with an injury.

The Highlanders continued their effort into the second half, stretching their 14-point halftime lead to 22, 55-33, in the first two minutes out of the break. They later went ahead by 25 on two occasions, the latest at 66-41 following a by Milbourne Swan at the 10:37 mark.

After that, the closest Wilmington got was the final 13-point deficit.

The win was the first at home in four tries for NJIT, which has two overtime losses on its home court. Tuesday night was also the first comfortable win of the season for the Highlanders, whose previous four victories included an overtime win in the season opener, two two-point wins in regulation and a four-point regulation win that saw the game-winning bucket scored with seven seconds showing on the clock.

Next up is a visit to nationally-ranked Philadelphia University. The Highlanders will play at Philadelphia on Thursday night at 8 o'clock in the second game of a CACC women's/men's doubleheader.