There were three games of interest to the blog on Wednesday night and since I wasn’t able to attend any I wanted to take a quick scan through the box scores and hit some of the highlights. NJIT got an important win in its quest for .500, Columbia lost at Marist following an 18-day layoff and Stony Brook beat Cornell in overtime.
Marist 79, Columbia 59 — I obviously thought that Marist had a chance of beating Columbia, but I didn’t think it would be this bad. Coming off a long layoff the Lions’ defensive intensity just wasn’t there. Columbia, which had played great defense during its seven-game winning streak, allowed the Red Foxes to score 79 points in 66 possessions. The Lions’ offense is never going to be great, so the defense has to come every night. Brian Barbour had 15 points and Mark Cisco 14, but Columbia shot 39.7% from the field and 21.4% from beyond the arc in the loss. Marist shot 9-17 (52.9%) from three. That’ll happen sometimes when you’re at home.
NJIT 66, Fairleigh Dickinson 53 — The Highlanders were playing at home against a similar strength opponent and this is one that they just had to have. Well thanks to 21 points from Isaiah Wilkerson they got it. It was NJIT’s defense though that made the biggest difference as the Highlanders held the Knights to 18-47 (38.3%) shooting and forced 13 turnovers. Lonnie Robinsons was FDU’s leading scorer with 12 points. NJIT also got contributions from Chris Flores (14 points), P.J. Miller (11 points) and Lamar Kearse (12 points). The Highlanders take on Long Island on Friday. I’ll be there.
Stony Brook 68, Cornell 59 (OT) — A big comeback fell just short for Cornell as the Seawolves outscored the Big Red 17-8 in overtime for the victory. Stony Brook committed 17 turnovers, including six by Bryan Dougher, but still managed to pull out the victory. Dougher scored 16 points and Ron Bracey added 16 as well. Tommy Brenton had 12 points, including 10-14 shooting from the free throw line, and eight boards. With the score tied at 51 at the end of regulation Cornell’s Drew Ferry and Galal Cancer both had a chance to end it for the Big Red, but their shots missed and Stony Brook controlled the extra period.
Other quick hits from around the leagues:
- Drexel got a nice win for the CAA by beating Fairfield at home 77-69.
- Besides Fairfield’s loss it was a good night for the MAAC. Loyola (Md.) won at Bucknell, Siena won at Florida Atlantic, Marist beat Columbia and the league held serve where it should’ve. The only other loss was St. Peter’s falling to Lehigh at home, 76-67.
- Albany played a tough game against Maryland before falling 83-72. Alex Len, a 7’1″ Ukrainian made his debut for UMD and scored 14 points.
NYC Buckets Archive 