Box Score

The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team saw its losing streak reach eight games as NJIT defeated the Knights, 66-53, Wednesday evening at the Fleisher Athletic Center in Newark, NJ.  With the victory, the Highlanders improve to 5-6 on the season, while the Knights fall to 1-10.

Leading by two at the half (30-28), NJIT opened the second half on a 17-4 run to take a 47-32 lead with 11:19 remaining in the contest.  The Knights were never able to get closer to 12 the rest of the way.

Junior Lonnie Robinson (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) came off the bench to score a season-high 12 points.  Fellow classmate Lonnie Hayes (Cincinnati, Ohio/Harmony Prep) added 10 as he scored six quick points in the opening six minutes of the game.

FDU led by as many as five in the first half.  The score was tied four times, while the lead changed on seven different occasions over the first 20 minutes.  The Knights took a 28-26 lead with 1:14 to go before halftime, but the Highlanders scored the final four points of the half to take a 30-28 halftime lead.

After shooting 47.6 percent (10-of-21) in the first half, the Knights struggled in the second half, making only 8-of 26 but still finished the game shooting a higher percentage than NJIT.  FDU shot 38.3 percent (18-of-47), while the Highlanders shot 35.8 percent (19-of-53). 

NJIT shot 40.7 percent in the second half and made 5-of-8 three's (7-of-18 for the game) which helped break open the contest.  The Knights went 4-of-11 from long-range in the game and made only 13-of-20 free throws.  The Highlanders made 21-of-28 from the charity stripe. 

NJIT also won the rebounding battle, 37-31, and scored 14 second-chance points on 14 offensive rebounds which was another difference in the game.

"We have one more non-conference game before we start NEC play next week," Head Coach Greg Vetrone said.  "I was pleased with the effort our second team gave tonight late in the second half."

Isaiah Wilkerson led all scorers with 21 points.  Chris Flores added 14 points, while Lamar Kearse and PJ Miller chipped in 12 and 11, respectively.

The Knights will return to action on Monday, January 2 when they travel to the Upper Westside of Manhattan to take on Columbia.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.