NEWARK, N.J. — The Stony Brook men's basketball team originally had America East newcomer NJIT on its schedule for a pair of weekend games.

Then, on Thursday, the league briefly juggled the weekend matchups due to COVID issues elsewhere and paired the Seawolves with UMBC. Hours later, though, the schedule reverted to Stony Brook traveling to NJIT.

So on Saturday, Stony Brook and NJIT met for the first time as America East adversaries. And the Highlanders prevailed, 74-65, at the NJIT Wellness and Events Center despite a career day from Jaden Sayles.

Sayles, a transfer from Akron, produced a career-high 29 points on 13-for-20 shooting in the loss. It marked the highest scoring output by a Stony Brook player since Elijah Olaniyi posted 33 points against UMass Lowell on Feb. 5 of last season.

Stony Brook shot only 3-for-20 from three-point range.

"We had a lot of issues today," coach Geno Ford said. "We're having a hard time getting back in an offensive flow."

As for Sayles, Ford added: "He was terrific. And we did come into the game trying to make it a priority to get him the ball. I don't think we've gotten him enough touches through the year. If you look at the percentages, the guy is shooting up near 60 percent from the field. And we don't get him the ball enough." 

The Seawolves slipped to 6-7 overall and 4-3 in America East.
 
It was the first meeting between the programs since Dec. 28, 2016.

NJIT led by as many as 14 points in the first half and continued to hold a double-digit lead after halftime. However, Juan Felix Rodriguez's three-pointer with 12:11 remaining in the game pulled Stony Brook within 52-49.

The Highlanders then reopened a little breathing room, before a three-pointer from Sayles clawed Stony Brook within 64-60 with 5:22 to go. But the Seawolves could not close the gap entirely.

The teams meet again on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Newark.