NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Zach Cooks scored 17 points, San Antonio Brinson had 13 points and seven rebounds and NJIT beat Florida Gulf Coast 66-54 on Wednesday night for its fifth straight victory.
Abdul Lewis, the co-player of the week, added nine points on 4-of-10 shooting for NJIT (18-5, 6-2 Atlantic Sun), which has won 11 of its last 14 games. NJIT had an 11-0 advantage in second-chance points and its bench outscored FGCU 24-7
Troy Baxter Jr. scored a career-high 21 points with four 3-pointers for the reigning regular-season champion Florida Gulf Coast (8-15, 3-5).
Schadrac Casimir and Baxter combined to score FGCU's opening 16 points of the game as the Eagles trailed by two points. FGCU's third player to score didn't happen until Donovan Greer's basket with 5:48 left in the first half. Baxter scored 13 points in the opening 20 minutes and FGCU trailed 30-26. Casimir finished the game with seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.
