OCR Text |
Show The College Times MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008 Making history Mean, mean Wolverines NJIT drops to 0-29 in a season that ended with a loss to Utah Valley Ben Webster Matt Beaudin Sports editor Aisi'jtont sports editor A lone student standing behind the NJIT basket holding a sign during warm-ups that read, "0-28. but we think you're great," said it all. The New Jersey Institute of Technology men's basketball team came into last Saturday's game against the Wolverines in danger of becoming the worst team in Division I basketball history. Although the Highlanders got on the board first with a couple of 3-pointers, Utah Valley took care of business in the 76-50 win. "I'm very happy and very pleased," coach Dick Hunsaker said. "We've improved defensively throughout the course of the season." While a 40-foot, 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half, along with 22 points from Ryan Toolson, propelled Utah Valley to the win, the story appeared to be the futile season of NJIT. The improbable losing skid was enough to get highlights of the Wolverines win on ESPN's Sportcenter. Utah Valley's Jordan Brady recorded a double-double 'with 16 points and 12 rebounds. The hot shooting in the first half by point guard Josh Olsen also paced the Wolverines. Olsen went 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc for 13 first half points. "We came out and fought and competed," Hunsaker said. "I thought we did a good job of staying within ourselves. We kept the ball moving, which is indicative of our 22 assists." With the loss, the Highlanders dropped their 29th game this season, a D-I record. NJIT came no closer than nine points to any team they faced. Jim Casciano, who has been the coach of Highlanders for seven years, announced his resignation before the team's final game. Utah Valley won their eighth game in their last nine and improved to 14-14 on the season, giving the team the chance to finish above .500. Hunsaker expressed his empathy for NJIT along with some of his players. "They never gave up," Brady said. "I respect every one of them. They came to play every night." While sports aren't all about winning, losing sure gets old. Just ask the Miami Dolphins or the Miami Heat. But unfortunately, collegiate sports are more about business than just having fun. So, Casciano will move on and find a new job, and his players will wait until next season to break a 33-game losing streak. Utah Valley 76 NJIT 50 ••H Den Paz / College Time* ";."-:"; [•>.• Key moment Ken Hoglund / College Times 5 M COLUMN -All Jordan Brady (32) skies high for a bucket against Chicago State as Richard Troyer (12) looks on. Softball 0-5 at Troy Cox Invitational The College Times ' ; V ' J C y<-,,;r It's hard not to feel sorry for the New Jersey Institute of Technology men's basketball team. The Highlanders finished their second season playing as an Independent at the Division I level with a loss to Utah Valley. It was more of a beat down, really, as Utah Valley cruised to the 76-50 win. It was the kind of loss NJIT has gotten used to this season, losing by an average of more than 21 points a game. NJIT finished 0-29, a record for most losses by a winless D-I team. Only two of those losses came by single digits. Utah Valley's bench players would have won by more than 10. But were the Highlanders going to get any love from the Wolverines? Did Utah Valley, which has had its own struggles this season, feel for the hapless Highlanders? "Yes and no," said Jordan Brady, who scored 16 points in the win. "I respect that they worked hard to the end, but no one wants to be the team to lose to them." OK, maybe that's why four of the Wolverines starters were playing in the closing minutes of the game with more than a 20-point cushion. You never know, the Highlanders could surprise them with a comeback. Maybe Utah Valley thought they were due. NJIT is in the bottom three in D-I. That's out of 341 teams, in field goal percentage, points per game, and turnovers - and their RPI is dead last at 341. Every other D-I team won at least two games. Maybe some pity from Utah Valley would have been nice. How's this for solace, though? Up 21, Utah Valley's Ryan Toolson decided to bury a 40-foot 3-pointer at the half time buzzer. To add to the misery for NJIT, their coach Jim In the softball team's second tournament of the year, things didn't go so well. It lost all five games by a combined 46-14, including three shutouts. The second day of the tournament was Utah Valley's best day, but they still came up short against New Mexico State 12-8 and Samford 7-6. The Wolverines (2-5) scored 14 runs and pounded out 16 hits in the two games, but it wasn't enough, as they were out hit in both games. "Our pitchers have been getting behind in the count this weekend," Utah Valley head coach Todd Fairbourne said. "We are walking way too many batters and giving up big hits after falling behind in the count." Meghan Woodworth, who went 3-for-6, and Heidi Stocks (three doubles and three RBI) were bright spots in Utah Valley's two games. In the first game, the Wolverines saw an early inning explosion put the game out of reach. With the score tied 1-1 after the first inning, New Mexico State erupted for 10 second-inning runs. In the second game, Utah Valley jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the "top of the first when Woodworth drew a walk to lead off the game and scored on a RBI walk by Stocks. Another big inning plagued Utah Valley as Samford scored four in the bottom of the third to open a 4-1 lead. After the Bulldogs scored their fifth run in the bottom of the fourth, Utah Valley tied the score at 5-5 in the top of the fifth with its own four-run inning. The Wolverines got an RBI on a Cherylyij McGraw groundout and a Stocks double. Jessica Anderson followed with a two-run double two batters later to tie the score. *' . ... Samford and UV scored a run apiece in each of the subsequent half-innings. The Wolverines got their run on an RBI double from Magan Niemann. After the Wolverines were held scoreless in the top of the seventh, Samford scored on a two-out RBI single. On the first day and the final day, Utah Valley lost to Texas A&M Corpus Christi 9-0, Indiana State 8-0 and Oklahoma State 12-0. |