Jacksonville defense thwarts NJIT for 63-61 win

Jan 20, 2018, 11:34 pm

NEWARK, N.J. -- Jace Hogan scored six of his 12 points in the final minutes as the Jacksonville defense thwarted NJIT in the last seconds to hold on for a 63-61 win on Saturday.

Trailing by two in the final thirty seconds, the Highlanders had two chances to tie or win. Zach Cooks was driving for a layup when he lost the ball out of bounds with seven seconds left. NJIT had one last chance following a missed free throw with six seconds remaining. The Dolphins defense smothered NJIT as the Highlanders came down court and they could not get off another shot.

Jacksonville held a 10-point advantage with 8:25 remaining. An Abdul Lewis layup started a 14-4 run to tie it 59-59 at the 3:05 mark.

NJIT had a season-high 19 turnovers. The Dolphins had 11 turnovers in the first half, but only four for the rest of the game.

JD Notae, Jalyn Hinton and Cody Helgeland had 10 points apiece for Jacksonville (10-12, 4-1 Atlantic Sun). Devin Harris added nine points with 11 rebounds.

Lewis led NJIT (9-11, 2-3) with 16 points and 13 rebounds.