Maine senior guard AJ Lopez scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the second half on Thursday, in helping to lead the Black Bears to a come from behind 57-44 America East men’s basketball win over the New Jersey Institute of Technology in a game played at the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center in Newark, NJ. The win is the third conference victory in a row for Maine.
In a rare 11 a.m. weekday start with 19 elementary schools in attendance on Education Day, the hosts from NJIT gave them something to cheer about in the first half with runs of 7-0 and 9-2 to build a pair of seven point leads over the final 3:53. Maine got back to even at 23-23 on a 7-0 spurt of their own on a pair of AJ Lopez layups wedged around a three-pointer by Jaden Clayton thanks to an offensive rebound by Keelan Steele. A free throw from John Kelly and a wide open layup by Tariq Francis would push the Highlanders back to a 26-23 advantage at the intermission.
Maine turned it up on both sides of the ball in the second half. The Black Bears got a tip-in by Killian Gribben, a free throw by Kellen Tynes, a jumper from Clayton, and a three-pointer, a steal, and a dunk by Lopez for a 10-0 run to push them ahead to stay at 33-26. NJIT was held scoreless over the first 6:18 after the break and started 0-7 from the floor. The Highlanders would cut it to four, but that is as close as they’d get as another three-pointer by Lopez and a layup by Clayton helped to restore a nine point edge. Maine would eventually go up by as many as 14 in outscoring NJIT 34-18 in the second half in winning their first conference road game of the season.
Lopez was 6-10 from the floor and 3-5 from three-point range in the Maine victory. Tynes added 12 points, eight assists, four rebounds, four steals, and a blocked shot. Clayton chipped in with eight points, six rebounds, and three assists. Quion Burns also contributed seven points and four rebounds, and Gribben had six points to go along with eight rebounds. Sebastian Robinson led three players in double figures in the loss for NJIT with 15 points, five assists, three rebounds, and two steals. The Highlanders fall to 3-15 and 0-3 in America East. Maine improves to 11-8 overall and 3-1 in the conference and will on the road again when they meet UMBC on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
