Score: Morgan State 69 | NJIT 53
Location: Joel & Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center, Newark, N.J.
Records: Morgan State 4-12, 0-0 | NJIT 4-8, 0-0
The short story:  New Jersey Institute of Technology led wire-to-wire against Morgan State, notching a 69-53 win on Sunday afternoon at the Joel & Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center. The Bears drop to 4-12 on the season, while the Highlanders improved to 4-8.
 

OPENING TIP

• Kjell de Graff filled up the stat sheet for the Highlanders. The 6-foot-10 finished with a team-high 15 points (10-10 FTs) with seven rebounds, seven blocked shots and two assists.
• Elijah Buchanan scored 14 points and grabbed a team-high nine boards with three steals in 34 minutes. Senior 6-4 guard Mekhi Gray added 13 points (6-15 FG), while graduate student Adam Hess chipped in nine points and three steals.
• Allen Udemadu led the Bears by recording a strong double-double in the loss. The junior forward finished with a career-high 18 points (7-11 FG) and 17 rebounds in 32 minutes. Redshirt-junior Amahrie Simpkins was the only other Bears to score in double-figures as he finished with 11 points (5-11 FG) and six boards in 27 minutes off the bench.
• Sophomore guard Rob Lawson added eight points (3-8 FG).

THE DIFFERENCE

• NJIT connected on 39 percent (22-57) of their shots from the field and only connected on 4-of-24 from 3-point territory. Meanwhile, the Bears shot 30 percent from the field and connected on just 1 of 17 3-pointers.
• Morgan shot .667 (12-18) from the free throw line, compared to NJIT's 70 percent (21-30).
• Morgans' best offense was on the offensive glass where they held a 21-11 advantage, and outrebounded the Highlanders by a 47-40 margin.
• The Bears' bench outscored the NJIT by a 23-12 margin.
• The Highlanders raced out to a fast start as the Bears were forced to call timeout with 17:54 remaining and trailing 7-0. NJIT kept the pedal to the medal and a coast-to-coast reverse layup by Buchanan extended the lead to 16-0.
• Allen Udemadu scored on a putback for the Bears' first points of the game at the 14:44 mark.
• Morgan attacked their way back to in the game with high percentage shots inside the paint. The Bears used a 14-4 run to cut the lead to 20-14.
• The Bears continued to claw into the lead. A steal by Will Thomas led to a fast break layup to and a basket in the paint by Udemadu trimmed the lead to 27-24.
• Adam Hess started the second half with a deep 3-pointer from the timeline to push the lead to 41-30.
• Sebastian Robinson scored on a layup to help give NJIT a 15-point advantage (51-36) with 14:59 left to play.
• The Bears used an 8-2 run to stay within striking distance as they trailed 54-46 after a layup by Amahrie Simpkins with 9:31 remaining.
• NJIT used a 5-0 spurt to take a 59-46 lead with just under 7 minutes left to go.
• Wynston Tabbs hit his first points of the game when he buried a straightaway 3-pointer to trim the lead to 61-51 at the 4:57 mark. 
• The Highlanders outscored the Bears 8-2 down the stretch to come away with a 69-53 victory.

NOTABLE

• Friday's game was the first all-time between the Highlanders and Bears.
• Morgan's record is currently 0-10 when trailing at halftime.
• Morgan's leading scorer Wynston Tabbs (16.4 ppg) returned to action after missing the previous four games due to injury…he finished the game with seven rebounds, four assists and four points (1-17 FG) in 24 minutes off the bench.

UP NEXT
Morgan opens Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play when they travel to Princess Anne (Md.) to take on the Hawks of Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday, Jan. 6.