NJIT Highlights (VIDEO)


PHILADELPHIA, PA – Temple (8-4) scored the final five points of the game to pick up a 68-63 win over NJIT (5-8) on Saturday afternoon at Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.
 
With things tied at 63 apiece in the final minute, Temple's Shizz Alston Jr. hit a layup with 0:45 left to give the hosts the lead.
 
On the other end, senior guard Damon Lynn misfired on a three that would have given the Highlanders the lead.
 
Alston Jr. was fouled and sank a pair of free throws to stretch it to a four-point lead for Temple at 67-63.
 
NJIT battled for all 40 minutes against a perennial NCAA Tournament team and one of the top programs in the country. Temple has advanced to 32 NCAA Tournaments all-time.

"I'm really proud of my team the way they hung in there and fought, they never give up" head coach Brian Kennedy said. 
 
After a three-pointer from Daniel Dingle gave the Owls a 56-47 lead with just over five minutes left, the Highlanders quickly responded with an 11-2 run capped by a layup from Abdul Lewis to tie things at 58 apiece with 3:09 to play.
 
A quick 5-0 spurt from Temple made it a 63-58 game, but NJIT did not go away.
 
Lynn hit a three on the other end and after a Temple miss, senior guard Rob Ukawuba grabbed an offensive rebound off of a missed layup from Lynn and hit a putback to tie the game at 63 for the Highlanders with under a minute remaining in regulation.
 
Lynn hit 7-of-15 from beyond the arc en route to a game-high 25 points while junior guard Chris Jenkins sank four threes of his own and chipped in with 12 points. Senior forward Tim Coleman added 11 points and nine rebounds for head coach Brian Kennedy's squad.
 
As a team, NJIT hit 13-of-33 (39.4%) from three-point range. Temple sank 7-of-18 (38.9%) on the day.
 
Junior forward Obi Enechionyia paced Temple with 13 points and eight rebounds and was joined in double figures by Dingle (11 points) and Alston Jr. (10 points).
 
With 15:11 to play, Lynn hit a three to give the Highlanders a 36-35 edge and surpass 2,000 points in his career (2,015 points). The senior co-captain is now just 14 points away from passing Clarence Pierce ('96) for the school's all-time scoring record.
 
A few minutes later, Lynn buried one of his seven triples to give NJIT their largest lead of the second half at 41-37. However, the Owls quickly responded with an 8-0 run of their own to take the lead back.
 
In the first half, Jenkins sank a three to tie things at 12 apiece and kickstart a 10-1 run for the Highlanders that gave them their largest lead of the day at 19-13 with 9:09 left in the opening stanza.
 
The Owls answered with a 12-0 run capped by a jumper from Mark Williams to give themselves a 25-19 advantage for the time being.
 
Back-to-back triples from freshman Anthony Tarke and Coleman erased the deficit and deadlocked things at 25 all for NJIT. The two teams traded buckets over the final few minutes of the half and Temple took a 31-30 lead into the locker room.
 
The Highlanders outrebounded the Owls by a 37-34 count, led by 13 rebounds from Lewis.
 
NJIT will return home to host Division III foe Dean College (MA) on Thursday afternoon at Fleisher Athletic Center. Opening tip is set for 4 p.m. 


Write-up courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry