Photo Credit: Christopher Shannon

NJIT Men's Basketball Falls to Army

West Point, N.Y. - In a contest that saw multiple ties, and lead changes, NJIT fell to Army, 63-62, in a men's basketball game on the campus of the United States Military Academy.

The first half was a display of both teams' sharp shooting abilities with both teams hitting 0ver 38 percent from beyond the three-point arc and Army hitting almost 42 percent of its total shots from the field.  The Black Knights used their hot shooting to take an 11 point lead with 6:31 left in the first stanza. However, that was largest lead either team would have for the remainder of the night as NJIT used a solid shooting performance themselves to erase Army's lead by halftime, and both teams went into the locker room knotted up at 35.

In the second half, NJIT was able to maintain a more consistent performance shooting while Army cooled off a bit.  The Highlanders' more consistent performance from the field led to a four-point lead early in the second half and meant that the Black Knights could not build a lead greater than eight points for the remainder of the contest.  NJIT was even in position to send the game to overtime trailing 63-60 in the contest's waning moments.  However, a block by Army's Charlie Peterson on a Paul McMillan IV 3-point attempt, coupled with a layup from Mekhi Gray, would set the final score, and end the game in the hosts' favor.

Miles Coleman and Gray led the Highlanders offense with 15 and 13 points respectively. Gray also led NJIT with seven rebounds and five assists.  As a team, NJIT finished 24-of-70, or 34 percent, from the field and grabbed 34 rebounds while Army finished 26-of-66, or 39 percent, from the field and hauled in 52 rebounds.  Peterson had a double-double for the Black Knights with 11 points and 16 rebounds.

What's Next For NJIT

NJIT will next travel Hackensack to face Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday before returning home to host Niagara on the 18th.

Christopher Shannon