# 2015–16 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team

The 2015–16 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team represented the New Jersey Institute of Technology during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Highlanders, led by eighth year head coach Jim Engles, played their home games at the Fleisher Center. After two seasons as the only Division I independent, they were first year members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. They finished the season 20–15, 8–6 in A-Sun play to finish in to finish in a three way tie for second place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the A-Sun tournament to Stetson. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Army, Boston University, and Texas–Arlington to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Columbia.
On April 1, head coach Jim Engles resigned to become the head coach at Columbia. He finished at NJIT with an eight-year record of 111–139.

## Roster

| Number | Name | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown |
| 0 | Ky Howard | Guard | 6–4 | 185 | Senior | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| 2 | Tim Coleman | Forward | 6–5 | 210 | Junior | Union, New Jersey |
| 3 | Chris Jenkins | Guard/Forward | 6–4 | 215 | Sophomore | Hillside, New Jersey |
| 5 | Damon Lynn | Guard | 5–11 | 165 | Junior | Hillside, New Jersey |
| 11 | Winfield Willis | Guard | 6–0 | 180 | Senior | Baltimore, Maryland |
| 12 | Abdul Lewis | Forward | 6–9 | 225 | Sophomore | Irvington, New Jersey |
| 14 | Reilly Walsh | Guard | 6–3 | 180 | Freshman | Staten Island, New York |
| 15 | Terrence Smith | Forward | 6–6 | 195 | Junior | Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
| 23 | Osa Izevbuwa | Guard | 6–3 | 230 | Junior | Staten Island, New York |
| 24 | Emmanuel Tselentakis | Guard | 6–5 | 205 | Senior | Thessaloniki, Greece |
| 25 | Rob Ukawuba | Guard | 6–3 | 210 | Junior | East Brunswick, New Jersey |
| 33 | Vlad Shustov | Forward | 6–10 | 225 | Sophomore | Tomsk, Russia |
| 34 | Mohamed Bendary | Forward | 6–9 | 235 | Freshman | Jersey City, New Jersey |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/14/2015* 7:00 pm, SECN | | at No. 2 Kentucky Hoophall Miami Invitational | L 57–87 | 0–1 | Rupp Arena (22,671) Lexington, KY |
| 11/16/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at South Florida Hoophall Miami Invitational | W 60–57 | 1–1 | USF Sun Dome (2,672) Tampa, FL |
| 11/19/2015* 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Boston University Hoophall Miami Invitational | W 90–76 | 2–1 | Fleisher Center (1,488) Newark, NJ |
| 11/21/2015* 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Lafayette | W 80–66 | 3–1 | Fleisher Center (1,000) Newark, NJ |
| 11/23/2015* 6:30 pm, FS1 | | at Providence | L 76–83 | 3–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (5,009) Providence, RI |
| 11/27/2015* 7:00 pm | | at Albany Hoophall Miami Invitational | L 73–74 | 3–3 | SEFCU Arena (3,253) Albany, NY |
| 11/29/2015* 2:00 pm | | Maine–Fort Kent | W 89–60 | 4–3 | Fleisher Center (400) Newark, NJ |
| 12/05/2015* 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UMass Lowell | W 90–77 | 5–3 | Fleisher Center (1,011) Newark, NJ |
| 12/07/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Kent State | L 75-80 | 5–4 | Fleisher Center (987) Newark, NJ |
| 12/10/2015* 7:00 pm | | at St. Francis Brooklyn | W 92–86 $^{OT}$ | 6–4 | Generoso Pope Athletic Complex (575) Brooklyn, NY |
| 12/12/2015* 7:00 pm | | at Columbia | L 56–65 | 6–5 | Levien Gymnasium (1,244) New York City, NY |
| 12/20/2015* 4:00 pm, FS1 | | at St. John's | W 83–74 | 7–5 | Carnesecca Arena (4,414) Queens, NY |
| 12/28/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Stony Brook | L 61–83 | 7–6 | Fleisher Center (900) Newark, NJ |
| 12/30/2015* 7:00 pm | | at Saint Francis (PA) | W 77–65 | 8–6 | DeGol Arena (632) Loretto, PA |
| 01/02/2016* 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UMBC | W 86–83 | 9–6 | Fleisher Center (510) Newark, NJ |
| 01/06/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Yale | L 65–83 | 9–7 | Payne Whitney Gymnasium (886) New Haven, CT |
| Atlantic Sun Conference regular season ||||||
| 01/09/2016 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | USC Upstate | L 78–80 | 9–8 (0–1) | Fleisher Center (882) Newark, NJ |
| 01/14/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Florida Gulf Coast | L 78–82 $^{OT}$ | 9–9 (0–2) | Alico Arena (4,124) Fort Myers, FL |
| 01/16/2016 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Stetson | W 71–59 | 10–9 (1–2) | Edmunds Center (512) DeLand, FL |
| 01/21/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Jacksonville | W 83–63 | 11–9 (2–2) | Fleisher Center (755) Newark, NJ |
| 01/24/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | North Florida | L 80–94 | 11–10 (2–3) | Fleisher Center (555) Newark, NJ |
| 01/27/2016 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Lipscomb | L 72–81 | 11–11 (2–4) | Fleisher Center (779) Newark, NJ |
| 01/30/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Kennesaw State | W 75–67 | 12–11 (3–4) | KSU Convocation Center (1,623) Kennesaw, GA |
| 02/01/2016 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Lipscomb | W 90–78 | 13–11 (4–4) | Allen Arena (1,713) Nashville, TN |
| 02/06/2016 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Kennesaw State | W 78–59 | 14–11 (5–4) | Fleisher Center (1,322) Newark, NJ |
| 02/11/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Stetson | W 74–70 | 15–11 (6–4) | Fleisher Center (805) Newark, NJ |
| 02/13/2016 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Florida Gulf Coast | W 68–59 | 16–11 (7–4) | Fleisher Center (1,203) Newark, NJ |
| 02/18/2016 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at North Florida | L 71–107 | 16–12 (7–5) | UNF Arena (2,611) Jacksonville, FL |
| 02/20/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Jacksonville | W 73–58 | 17–12 (8–5) | Swisher Gymnasium (1,003) Jacksonville, FL |
| 02/25/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at USC Upstate | L 71–72 | 17–13 (8–6) | G. B. Hodge Center (568) Spartanburg, SC |
| Atlantic Sun Tournament ||||||
| 03/01/2016 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | (7) Stetson Quarterfinals | L 67–82 | 17–14 | Fleisher Center (1,022) Newark, NJ |
| CIT ||||||
| 03/16/2016* 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Army First round | W 79–65 | 18–14 | Fleisher Center (855) Newark, NJ |
| 03/21/2016* 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Boston University Second round | W 83–72 | 19–14 | Fleisher Center (1,134) Newark, NJ |
| 03/24/2016* 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Texas–Arlington Quarterfinals | W 63–60 | 20–14 | Fleisher Center (1,383) Newark, NJ |
| 03/27/2016* 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Columbia Semifinals | L 65–80 | 20–15 | Levien Gymnasium (1,249) New York City, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||