I love the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Love 'em. They were the winner in the first Reverse Survivor competition back in 2007-08 and would have won again last season if not for a convoluted rule that muddied the waters and handed Fordham the crown. How can you not hold a special place in your heart for a team that goes 1-59 over a two-year period?NJIT won its first game nine days ago, but it was a bittersweet win that came at the expensive of St. Joseph's of New York, a Division III school with locations in Brooklyn and Long Island. While a win is a win, it somehow didn't seem right to celebrate a victory like that. So I quietly rejoiced that the Highlanders were off the Reverse Survivor board, started an "NJIT!" chant in the in-game chat window on Tuesday night, and sat back to await the first win over a Division I program.
Turns out, it didn't take long. On Monday, the Great West's busiest day of the year (six teams saw action, everyone except Utah Valley), the Highlanders played Wagner. The Seahawks were winless in their first two games, losing to Lafayette and Stony Brook before coming to Newark, and the home team made sure that didn't change, gutting out a 56-51 win in front of 675 fans.
Isaiah Wilkerson played all forty minutes and had a double-double (17 points and 13 rebounds, plus four steals) and Chris Flores added twelve points and three steals. Jheryl Wilson had an off-night, scoring eight points on 3-of-11 shooting (that epitomizes the team's biggest problem: shooting the ball; the team average for the season is currently 35%), but they managed to win it without him. It wasn't pretty, but remember: a win is a win. And this one was over a Division I opponent. I'm not ashamed to say that I have them (tentatively) penciled in as the Great West's representative in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament in March.
(By the way, that picture up there is from when NJIT beat Bryant last year to end its million-game losing streak. It was the only picture I could find where they were celebrating.)
if every editor wrote like you believe me the world would be a better place! this was an excellent read expecting more!
I know this is really boring and you are skipping to the next comment, but I just wanted to throw you a big thanks - you cleared up some things for me!