Score: UAlbany 81, NJIT 63 

Location: Joel & Diane Bloom WEC | Newark, N.J.

Records: UAlbany (10-17, 6-6 America East), NJIT (15-13, 10-3 America East)  

Short Story: The University at Albany men's basketball team came from behind in a dominant win over the NJIT Highlanders Thursday night in Newark, N.J.  

Coach Killings: "I'm super proud of our guys. I thought we came out ready to go in the first five minutes, but they answered right back...they're in first place in the league for a reason. Our message was simple and coming to NJIT means facing a team that plays hard and tough, and in my opinion, they're one of the best in the league. If you're going to win in a gritty city like Newark, you have to play gritty, and we made the decision to do exactly that in the second half." 

Key Stats:  

• Amir Lindsey led the Great Danes with 22 points and five assists.  
• Okechukwu Okeke tabbed a double-double with 15 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Okeke also recorded a team-best three blocks. 
• Jaden Kempson tallied the team-high two steals, while also putting up double-digit points (16), and shooting 75.0% from beyond the arc.  
• As a team, UAlbany shot 50.0% from the field, 56.3% threes, and 77.8% from the line.  
• The Highlanders shot 40.7% from the paint, 23.8% from beyond the arc, and 62.5% from the free throw line.
• The Great Danes out rebounded NJIT 38-30.  

How it Happened:  

• Okechukwu Okeke started things off with a bang with a dunk to put up the first points of the game.  
• NJIT responded less than 30 seconds later with two points of their own, but Isaac Abidde and Jaden Kempson followed by sinking back-to-back threes to put the Great Danes ahead, 8-2.  
• From 16:30 to 12:10, the Highlanders came storming back to take their first lead of the game, 13-12.  
• Over the following five minutes, UAlbany outscored NJIT 11-9 to regain a 23-22 lead at 6:58.  
• In the remaining six and a half minutes before halftime, the Highlanders put up 11 more points than the Great Danes (20-9) to take a 42-32 lead into the break.  
• UAlbany came out of the locker room swinging, outscoring NJIT 14-6 in the first five minutes of the second half to cut the Highlanders' lead to just two points.  
• The following three and a half minutes saw the Great Danes put up eight points to NJIT's six to make the score even at 54 with 12:04 left in the game.  
• At 11:21, Amir Lindsey sunk a three-pointer which gave UAlbany back the lead of the game.  
• The Highlanders followed with two free throws, but from 9:31 to 7:32, the Great Danes went on a seven-point run to extend their lead, 64-56.  
• Fifteen seconds later NJIT sunk a free throw, but UAlbany responded with a 12-point run to keep control of the game, the score 76-57 at 4:29.  
• In the final four minutes of the game, the Great Danes continued to dominate, outscoring the Highlanders 6-5 to take an 81-63 win. 

UP NEXT: UAlbany's men's basketball program continues their trip on Saturday when they travel down to Baltimore to take on UMBC at 1 pm.  

Social Central:  Stay up to date with UAlbany men's basketball by following the team on X (@UAlbanyMBB), Instagram (@ualbany_mbb), and the team's official Facebook (UAlbany Men's Basketball) for all of the latest news and highlights throughout the year.