A last second shot by Ari Fulton on Saturday evening sent the #3 seeded New Jersey Institute of Technology past #6 Maine 60-58 in a quarterfinal game of the America East Men’s Basketball Tournament played at the Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center (the WEC) in Newark, New Jersey.
It was back and forth the entire contest, as neither team led by more than five and the game was tied 15 times. The Highlanders would hold a three point advantage at halftime. TJ Biel was apparently hurt on a NJIT foul call late in the first half and went to the locker room and never returned. Maine would take their final lead of the evening (43-39) on a Caleb Crawford layup and a jumper by Ace Flagg in the paint with 11:20 left to play. After the hosts regained a three point lead, the Black Bears would respond on several occasions in the last 7:02 to tie it back up. Fulton jumped his team back in front with a short jumper in the paint with 31 seconds remaining, before Flagg got position in the paint for the easy layup with 11.1 seconds showing on the clock to make it 58-58. Fulton did it again in the clutch to advance his NJIT team to the semifinals, going down the left side of the lane and hitting a fadeaway jumper over Keelan Steele with just two-tenths of a second left. It is the first home playoff win in school history for the Highlanders.
Sebastian Robinson would lead three players in double figures for NJIT with 21 points (9-14 FG). David Bolden added 12 points and six rebounds, while Fulton finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. The Highlanders (16-16) play at #2 Vermont in the semifinals on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Flagg had a team-high 14 points in the Maine loss (5-9 FG, 2-4 three-pointers), while also contributing eight rebounds. Steele chipped in 11 points, while Mekhi Gray and Logan Carey both put in eight points. The Black Bears, after playing in the conference championship game last season, ends their 2025-26 campaign with a record of 8-24.
Photo courtesy of UMaine Athletics
