Under the Radar Game of the Day: Lafayette at NJIT, 4:00 PM Eastern, espn3
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Although Belmont is playing at Evansville today (1:00 PM Eastern, espn3), there are times when the best Under the Radar game has to be pushed aside in favor of an even better story, and today is one of them. That story, of course, is the team that we here at HOOPS HD adopted last season as our first ever “Team of the People”, the NJIT Highlanders. NJIT was the nation’s lone independent last year, but had an amazing season, winning at Michigan, defeating Yale at home, and qualifying for the CIT, where they promptly advanced all the way to the semifinals before losing a close game at Northern Arizona. They rode that great season into an invitation to join the Atlantic Sun, where they have a chance to make their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance this year.
NJIT has started this season off with a flourish, despite falling to Kentucky in their opener (no surprise there), they went and picked up an exciting victory at South Florida and followed that up a couple nights ago by winning their home opener against Boston University. The team is led by Damon Lynn, but has plenty of options with the likes of Tim Coleman, Ky Howard, Winfield Willis and more. Today, the Highlanders (who suddenly have one of the wildest student sections around — even if they only started showing up late last year), welcome in another Patriot League opponent, the Lafayette Leopards. Lafayette represented the Patriot League in the NCAA Tournament last year and has a shot to contend for the league title again this year. They are off to a 1-1 start, losing at George Washington and defeating St. Peter’s. They will have a tough test today, however, as we once again expect a raucous crowd at the Fleisher Center.