Skip to main content

Thomas scores 20, UMass-Lowell beats NJIT 71-67

LOWELL, Mass. (AP) Jahad Thomas scored 20, and Marco Banegas-Flores added a career-high 19 points to lead UMass-Lowell past New Jersey Institute of Technology 71-67 on Wednesday night.

Kerry Weldon, who finished with 12 rebounds, tipped in his own miss to give UMass-Lowell (6-2) its biggest lead, 45-26, with 17:28 remaining.

NJIT (2-5) responded with a 11-2 run, capped by a three-point play by Tim Coleman and a 3 by Damon Lynn, to cut its deficit to 11 about 3 minutes later.

The Highlanders continued to chip away, pulling within two when Lynn hit another 3 with 2:39 to play, but a Lance Crawford 3-pointer and a Thomas layup made it 67-59 with about a minute left.

Crawford and Banegas-Flores each made a pair of free throws in the final 32 seconds to seal it.

Lynn made six 3-pointers and scored 24 for NJIT, which shot just 29.6 percent in the first half.