Sunday, December 20, 2015

NJIT 83 St. Johns 74 at the Carnesecca Arena and I was there

St. John's coach Chris Mullin congratulates NJIT
coach Jim Engles after the game

Hearty congratulations to the NJIT Highlander basketball team who defeated the Red Storm of St. John's University 83-74 at Carnesecca Arena. Yours truly, Karen and Lee were in the stands rooting the team representing my employer. Congratulations are in order for all the players, coaches, and Athletic Director Lenny Kaplan as for the first time NJIT has beaten a school from the Big East Conference.

It seems strange that I never seen the men's basketball team at Newark, but I saw them twice at St. Johns and once at Hofstra as they lost all three games. As I mentioned before I got the tickets about a week ago at a bargain from Stub Hub. We drove over to the campus and we ran into Lenny in the lobby as we entered.

The Highlanders lead for most of the game as Damon Lynn led with 32 points. Chris Jenkins, Ky Howard, and Tim Coleman also scored in double figures. The Highlanders now have a 7-5 in games outside the Atlantic Sun Conference which they joined this past year.

When NJIT scored a basket I looked to my left and saw a handful of people cheering. I went over during halftime and found out they were from the Athletics Department. One of the gentlemen I spoke to was the tennis coach. I did find any students in the stands.

I must say that this victory was a pleasant surprise for me. I must admit that when NJIT first moved to Division I sports from Division II I was skeptical that the teams could be competitive at that level. It took a few years and recruiting the right student athletes for the team to succeed.

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