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 Junior Kyle Edwards records career-high 16 points |
Feb. 4, 2008
NEWARK, NJ - Junior forward Kirk Williams scored a game-high 19 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead visiting Longwood to a 78-68 win over New Jersey Institute of Technology Monday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center in a matchup of men's basketball Division I Independents.
Williams matched his career rebounding high, while junior guard Ryan Bogan grabbed a game and personal career-high 13 rebounds for the Lancers. Williams and Bogan led Longwood to a 51-32 team rebounding advantage.
Bogan also scored 12 points, while senior forward Lamar Barrett added 10 points for the visitors.
NJIT got 16 points apiece from senior Kraig Peters and junior Kyle Edwards and 14 points from junior Nesho Milosevic. Edwards led NJIT on the boards with eight rebounds.
Edwards' 16 points were his career high, topping his previous high of 12, which he did in February 2005 and January 2006 at the Division II level.
Edwards, who missed all of the 2006-07 season due to injury, continued his rebounding resurgence as well, as his team-high eight rebounds against Longwood raised his rebound total in the last three games to 21.
Longwood took a 13-4 lead 5:50 into the game after a Williams free throw, but NJIT came back and closed to within four points, 19-15, on a three-point basket by Justin Garris with 7:25 left in the half.
The Lancers took control for good over the last 7:09 of the first half, outscoring NJIT, 22-7. Freshman Durann Neil scored eight in the last 1:48 to pace the decisive sprint to halftime. Bogan scored six on a pair of treys and sophomore center Beno Jaekel scored six points from in close, while Williams added a pair of free throws.
Longwood held a 41-22 lead halftime lead, headed by Bogan's 10 points. The top halftime scorers for NJIT were Edwards and Milosevic, with six points apiece.
The Lancers led by as many as 23 points in the second half and still led 63-43 with 8:06 to play, before NJIT ran off 11 unanswered points in less than three minutes, pulling to within nine points, 63-54, when Edwards made the first of two free throws with 5:09 left.
The Highlanders eventually cut the deficit to eight in the final minute, but Longwood made eight free throws in the last 54 seconds to seal the win.
The Highlanders' second-half comeback was accompanied by 34 fouls--17 on each team. Longwood, which committed 14 turnovers in the last 20 minutes, hit 18-of-26 free second-half free throws in the face of NJIT's attempt to trade foul shots for possession of the ball.
NJIT will play four of its final five games on the road, beginning with a game on Saturday at 7 pm (central) in Edinburg, Texas against Texas-Pan American.
