NEWARK, N.J. – Houston Baptist sliced a 22-point second-half deficit to seven, but couldn't finish off the rally as New Jersey Institute of Technology held on for a 96-84 victory in Great West Conference basketball Saturday afternoon at the Fleisher Center.

Senior guard Andrew Gonzalez led the Huskies (1-15, 0-2 GWC) with 27 points, shooting only 5-of-16 from the field but 15-of-20 from the free-throw line. Senior guard Michael Moss had a career-high 24 points to go along with four rebounds, five assists and four steals. Sophomore guard Ben Daniels added eight points with a career-high and game-high 11 rebounds.

Isaiah Wilkerson led NJIT (5-10, 2-0) with 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field. Chris Flores and Lamar Kearse had 19 apiece, while Jheryl Wilson added 17 for the Highlanders. Flores and Wilson led NJIT with six rebounds each.

NJIT nailed six threes in the first 10 minutes to build a 27-11 lead, but Sammy Obetoh broke free for a dunk, was intentionally fouled on the play and made both free throws. Lamar Thomas got a tip-in on the next possession and Shawn Echols hit a pair of free throws to complete an 8-0 run for HBU. The Highlanders quickly responded with a 10-1 spurt, then ended the half on a 10-0 run. NJIT shot 63 percent in the first half and hit 10-of-15 threes to take a 49-28 lead into the break. HBU shot only 26 percent and went 2-of-11 from long range. Kearse hit 4-of-4 and Wilson went 3-for-4 from behind the arc in the first half to lead the Highlanders with 15 and 11 points, respectively. Moss led the Huskies with 14 points in the first half.

The Highlanders built as much as a 22-point lead early in the second half, but Moss rallied the Huskies back to a only 11-point deficit, 76-65, with 6:37 remaining in the game. Gonzalez was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer and made all three free throws to cut the lead to 84-74 with just over three minutes to go, then followed with a 3-pointer on the next possession to cut NJIT's lead to 84-77. However, HBU went cold down the stretch with two field goals in the final 40 seconds their only baskets over the final 2:47.

NJIT shot 61.8 percent from the field for the game and 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from long range, but let the Huskies back in the game by hitting only 16-of-32 from the free-throw line. HBU shot 37.1 percent from the floor for the game, 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from behind the arc, but hit 30-of-39 from the free-throw line.