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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville University men's basketball team (12-16, 5-9 ASUN) stood toe-to-toe with a 20-win program in NJIT (20-9, 8-6 ASUN) on Saturday night and had chances to steal this one down the stretch but some timely buckets by the Highlanders doomed the home side in this one, 77-73.

The Dolphins were led primarily by the tandem of JD Notae (25 points, 8 rebounds) and DeAnthony McCallum who bagged another career-high with 19 points in a career-high 30 minutes off the bench to go with three rebounds and a steal. Jace Hogan was the only other Dolphin to reach double figures with 10 and Tanner Rubio contributed his best scoring effort since mid-January with seven points on 2-4 shooting.

Jacksonville shot 47.4 percent from the floor and canned eight triples but NJIT was scalding hot, knocking in 30 field goals and shooting 56.6 percent from the floor in the process. It was a rare occasion that saw JU outscored in the paint, 48-34, but JU was without one of its premier penetration players in Tyreese Davis for most of the game. The freshman suffered an injury to his left leg that kept him out the after just 12 minutes of action.

Things started off well for the Dolphins. It took a minute for shots to fall but once they did they came in bunches. By the 13:37 mark in the first half the Dolphins were ahead by five, 11-6 and maintained that advance through the mid-point in the opening frame, leading by as many as 11 at the 8:49 mark. From that point on however, NJIT started to heat up and closed the half on an extended 24-8 run to take a 37-32 advantage into the locker room.

Jacksonville showed plenty of fight in the second half, quickly erasing the deficit and jumping ahead by four on a Notae three ball with 17:56 left. That jumper capped a 9-0 run to start the second half for JU.

NJIT responded however and was able to swerve the momentum back to itself and build a 60-53 lead by the 8:32 mark following a trio of free throws. That would prove to be the largest deficit of the night for the Dolphins who have been prone to falling behind but always battle back.

The Dolphins did just that, trailing by six with 8:06 left, Notae drew a foul and knocked down two free throws to kick off a run that saw McCallum bag two three balls and push JU ahead, 71-67, with just 2:59 to play. That four-point lead did not last though as NJIT responded with its own 8-0 run to move ahead by four. The Dolphins weren't able to climb all the way back and the Highlanders were able to escape with the four-point victory.

Just two games remain in the regular season for Jacksonville but the team can take solace in know it clinched a spot in the ASUN Championship Tournament on the strength of Kennesaw State's loss to FGCU. How the eight-team field with shake out is still very much up in the air and seedings will most certainly come down to the final contests. The Dolphins begin the stretch run at North Alabama on Tuesday (Feb. 26) and complete the regular season at home on Friday (Mar. 1) with a visit from FGCU.