Box score

RIVERDALE, NY—Manhattan outscored visiting NJIT 30-9 over the final 10:41, turning a seven-point deficit into a 14-point victory, 62-48, Saturday afternoon in the men's basketball season opener for both teams.
 
The Highlanders took what would be their biggest lead of the day, 39-32, with 11:16 remaining, on a layup by NJIT senior Isaiah Wilkerson, who would finish with a game-high 23 points that included 10-for-14 shooting from the field.
 
The tide did not turn immediately after Wilkerson made it 39-32. Indeed, the Highlanders still led by seven with 9:53 left. But the Jaspers climbed back into contention by making five of six free throws from 9:32 to 8:24 and trimming the NJIT lead to 41-39.
 
The Highlanders, who committed 28 fouls in the game, including 15 in the second half, were whistled for three fouls and committed two turnovers in the 1:08 that saw their lead slip from seven points down to two.
 
They committed their 10th team foul of the half 14 seconds later, putting Manhattan in the double-bonus for the final 8:10.
 
Manhattan scored eight more free throws from that point and finished with a huge advantage in scoring from the line—24-to-8. The Jaspers were 24-for-31 in the game and 12-for-16 in the second half, while NJIT was just 8-for-14 in the game and a dismal 1-for-4 in the second half. On top of that, the Highlanders missed on the front ends of one-and-one situations twice in each half, so they actually left a possible 10 points at the line.
 
The only double-figure scorer for NJIT, aside from Wilkerson, was senior Arjun Ohri, who scored 11 points in his first career start at NJIT. A transfer in his second year with the Highlanders, Ohri got nine of his points on 3-pointers in the first half, when he shot 3-for-6 from distance. Sophomore Lamar Kearse tied his career high with a team-leading five rebounds and his four assists also paced NJIT.
 
Manhattan, which was victorious in its first game under new head coach Steve Masiello, got a double-double from junior George Beamon. A third-team all-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference honoree a year ago, Beamon led his team in points (15) and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, as the Jaspers edged the Highlanders on the boards, 38-36.
 
Senior Roberto Colonette came off the bench for 11 points and eight rebounds and freshman Donovan Kates finished with 10 points.
 
Manhattan, which made just two of 20 attempts on the 3-pointers and didn't hit the target until 7:09 remained in the game, controlled the inside against NJIT. The Jaspers turned 14 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points. Coupled with their 17-9 advantage in second-chance points, the Jaspers dominated the overall scoring in the paint, 32-14. They also had a 22-2 lead in bench scoring.
 
Wilkerson, who was limited to seven minutes action in the first half after picking up his second foul with 13:14 left in the half, played 16 minutes in the second half and scored 16 points.
 
Unfortunately for NJIT's hopes, the rest of the team managed just five points combined on 2-for-10 second-half shooting from the field, along with 11 turnovers in the final 20 minutes. For his part, Wilkerson shot 8-for-12 in the second half, bringing the team total to a respectable 10-for-22 (.455).
 
Even after Manhattan pulled to within a pair of points at 41-39 with 8:24 left, Wilkerson drove the baseline for a layup that put his team up 43-39 with 7:39 left.
 
But Manhattan's Kates finally connected on a 3-pointer 30 seconds later and then Michael Alvarado, working in his team's trapping pressure defense, made a steal at midcourt and scored a breakaway layup for a 44-43 lead with 6:52 remaining. The Jaspers would lead the rest of the way.
 
The Highlanders missed a 3-pointer on their next possession and Kates hit his second and final three the next time down. He later hit a pair of free throws for a 49-43 advantage with two ticks under five minutes to play, before Wilkerson's jumper broke Manhattan's 10-0 run, pulling NJIT back to within four, 49-45, with 4:48 left.
 
The Highlanders didn't get any closer and they did not score after a Wilkerson jump shot made it 53-48 with 3:39 left. Manhattan then scored the last nine points to build the final 14-point margin of victory.
 
As difficult as the stretch run was for the Highlanders, the opening minutes were tough, too. Manhattan scored the first four points and claimed an early 9-2 lead on a breakaway dunk by Mohamed Koita 3:56 into the game.
 
The Jaspers led 16-7 after Kidani Brutus hit the first of two free throws with 12:13 left, but NJIT went on a 10-0 run fueled by Ohri's three triples and the Highlanders took a 17-16 lead when PJ Miller made a foul shot with 9:23 left.
 
Neither team led by more than three points the rest of the way to halftime and the Jaspers held a 28-27 lead at the break, topped by Beamon's nine points.
 
The teams exchanged two baskets each of the first four minutes of the second half, before Wilkerson's steal and dunk sparked an 8-0 Highlander run from 16:03 to 11:16, bringing the NJIT lead to its game-high 39-32.
 
NJIT has a quick turnaround, as it hosts Penn State Abington in a 7 pm game Monday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.