BALTIMORE – Ari Fulton hit a 10-foot pull-up jumper from the left side at the buzzer Tuesday night, and NJIT escaped Reitz Arena with a 66-64 non-conference win over Loyola University Maryland.
Fulton finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds, scoring 16 and grabbing nine after halftime.
Loyola (1-2 overall) led by six, 57-51, with 6:38 to play after two
Braeden Speed free throws, but the Highlanders (2-1) scored the next 10 points to go up 61-57 on a Fulton basket and free throw with 4:18 on the clock.
Braeden Speed broke the run with a floater in the paint 57 seconds later, and the Greyhounds with back within a point, and then
Troy Cicero Jr. knocked down his third 3-poitner of the game at 2:37 to push Loyola up one, 62-61, at 2:37.
Fulson made the second of two at the line 22 seconds later, and he then converted on a turnaround jumper at 1:48, making it 64-62 for the Highlanders.
Speed converted a pair of free throws at 1:34, and it was tied at 64-64, a score that held until Fulton's winner.
Loyola missed a three with 54 seconds left, but Speed came up with a steal at the 34-second mark and called a timeout three seconds later. His turnaround in the lane rattled out with six seconds left, and NJIT got the defensive board and called a timeout over halfcourt to setup the final play.
Speed finished with 14 points, four assists and three steals, and
Jonas Sirtautas matched his 14 and also had seven rebounds and five blocked shots.
Sirtautas' five blocks are the most by a Loyola player since 2016 when Chancellor Barnard had five at Duquesne.
Loyola had a 37-36 advantage in rebounds, and the Greyhounds shot 39.7 percent from the field to NJIT's 35.7, but the Highlanders made 21 of 26 free throws (80 percent) to Loyola's 12 of 20 (.600).
The Greyhounds go on the road for their next four, starting with the first game of the Mahoney Classic presented by NIVEA MEN at Fairfield. Loyola will face Stonehill at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 15, before taking on the host Stags the following afternoon at 2 o'clock.
