STF Road Trip: Cornell at NJIT

by Ray Floriani

NEWARK, NJ - The brand new Prudential Center hosted a Tuesday night meeting between NJIT and Cornell. NJIT, in their second year at Division I, entered the game 0-18 and is starting to get national attention. The first few minutes of the game gave hope as the Highlanders scored the initial basket and battled Cornell on relatively even terms. Gradually as the half wore on hope evaporated. The same maladies, missing a succession of shots and turnovers, allowed Cornell to build a commanding lead.



The stat crew distributes updates after each media time out. With 3:27 remaining Cornell enjoys a 21-7 lead as NJIT is shooting 3 of 20 from the floor ( 1 of 9 from three) and has committed 9 turnovers. Without further statistical analysis one can see that is not a recipe to win.
At the break Cornell has a 25-7 lead. The Big Red then proceeds to open the second half knocking down a three then converting a steal on the other end into a transition layup, 30-7 Cornell.



Nesho Milosevic, NJIT’s inside threat, is limited by foul trouble and contributes six points. Kraig Peters, a double digit scorer, leads the Higlanders with 10 but does so on 2 of 10 shooting. Cornell is enjoying a balanced attack with seven foot center Jeff Foote leading the way with 10 points. There is a sigh of relief as NJIT breaks 20 points late in the contest. With just under two minutes left an NJIT fan bellows ,’what do we have to do to get a call ?’ The score is 62-27, a call won’t help. The final is 64-33. NJIT shot 8 of 40 from the field while committing 26 turnovers.



NJIT coach Jim Casciano was cooperative and gracious in a post game interview with yours truly. Casciano took a leave of absence after an opening loss to Manhattan and returned December 30. In his absence assistant Wendell Alexis ran the team. To their credit neither Casciano nor Alexis ever criticized their players or paucity of DI talent. Rather, they would discuss ways to improve.



“We had good things happen early ,” Casciano said. “We came out with energy and defended. Then we couldn’t buy a basket and frustration set in.”Casciano credits his team’s resiliency and willingness to work each day. The record is 0-19 , yet as coaches and players file out of the ‘Rock” you get the feeling they’re already thinking ahead to a date at Chicago State (6-14) on Saturday.