Highlanders Scare Gophers
December 6, 2016
Last season, Akeem Springs was the starting point guard for the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee team that defeated the Minnesota Gophers at Williams Arena. Now he is the Gophers sixth man and jack-of-all-trades who even takes a hand at playing power forward. On Tuesday, he led Minnesota in scoring with 19 points as the Gophers edged the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), 74-68.
The Gopher hockey team will, on occasion, take on teams representing small eastern tech schools such as Rensselaer Poly and RIT, but until this season, the basketball team has avoided such opposition. NJIT, proud members of the Atlantic Sun Conference, has only been a NCAA Division 1 member since 2006. The schools home court capacity is 1,500. Nevertheless, the Highlanders proved to be a stout opponent for the Gophers at Williams Arena.
NJIT led 61-58 with only 7:15 showing on the game clock, and the unease that the 8,189 fans in attendance became palpable. Minnesota had apparently underestimated their opponent and needed a spark to regain confidence. That spark came with a three-point basket by Nate Mason to tie the score and continued with a slam dunk basket by Reggie Lynch, and Minnesota never trailed after that.
We werent very good, lamented coach Richard Pitino after the game, but we found a way to win, adding that the game provided him with many teachable moments for future use. We can lose to anybody. December is a long month for us, he said. We have to grind it out.
The coach pointed to turnovers (10 in the first half) and lack of offensive rebounds (only six for the entire game) as contributors to the near upset at the hands of the Highlanders.
Foolish fouls by Lynch and Jordan Murphy kept the front-line duo chained to the bench for long stretches. Murphy eventually fouled out and finished with only two points and four rebounds.
NJIT was led by scoring machine senior Rob Ukawuba out of East Brunswick, N.J. with 18 points.
For the Gophers, after Springs 19 {which included four three-point baskets}, Mason followed with 18 points and Amir Coffey with 13.
Minnesota missed 12 easy shots in the paint, a key contributor to the closeness of the game.