Rayven Johnson, Basketball
NJIT’s first-team all-conference senior Rayven Johnson was named tournament Most Valuable Player after leading all players on both teams with 20 points and 18 rebounds. Johnson’s 18 rebounds were the most for an NJIT player in the program’s Division I era, which began in 2006-07.
NJIT defeated top-seeded regular season champion Utah Valley in a wire-to-wire 52-42 win Saturday for the championship of the 2013 Great West Conference women’s basketball tournament held at the Emil and Patricia A. Jones Convocation Center on the campus of Chicago State University
2011-12: Great West Conference first-team honoree. Finishes her junior season at NJIT leading the team in points (334, 11.5ppg), rebounds (232, 8.0) – a new NJIT Division I single season record and shares the lead with Nwankwo with (29) steals. Named the GWC all-tournament team. Scored in double-figures in 20 out of 29 contests (season-high 26 points vs. New Hampshire) and registered eight double-doubles. GWC Player of the Week (Jan. 4, Jan. 24, Feb. 22)
2010-11: Started every game but one (27). All-Great West Conference honorable mention. Second leading scorer on the team with (299 points, 10.7 ppg) and (172 rebounds, 6.1 rpg). Established a new program Division I record for three-point baskets made with nine vs. Houston Baptist on January 15, 2011. Shot 9-for-11 on threes and 10-for-13 overall, finishing with 30 points. Johnson was one of nine players in Division I to make 9 3-pointers in a game in 2010-11 (most in the nation for the season) Scored in double-figures 15 times with a career-high 30 points vs. Houston Baptist (1/15/11). Posted three double-double games (11p, 11r at Manhattan 12/1/10; 10p, 10r at Brown 1/6/11; 12p, 11r at North Dakota 2/26/11).
Mark Leiter Jr., Baseball
Mark Leiter, Jr. was NJIT’s stopper for a second straight weekend, earning a win after the team had lost its previous two, this time with a 7-inning effort in a comeback win over Sacred Heart.
Leiter pitched the first seven innings, allowing eight hits and three runs (two earned), with five strikeouts and three walks.
Sunday’s win marked the second time in as many weekends that Leiter served as a stopper. Last weekend, NJIT lost two games to Presbyterian before Leiter answered with a 1-0 win in the final game of the series. This weekend, the Highlanders lost their first two games, to Fordham and Saint Peter’s, repectively, before another strong start by Leiter righted the ship.
Summer 2012: Ranked 19th as top pro prospects in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League. Leiter ranked eighth among right-handed pitchers. P record, some eight full games ahead of second-place Glens Falls. Amsterdam’s league-record 35 wins and .745 winning percentage earned it recognition as the third-best college summer league team in the country. Leiter appeared in five games for the Mohawks, all starts, and posted a 3-0 won-lost record with a stellar 1.55 earned run average. In 29 innings, he allowed just 15 hits, holding opponents to a .160 batting average. He struck out 32 and walked 13, allowing just two doubles and a triple among the 15 hits. He had been a PGCBL all-star in 2011, as well as earning all-Great West Conference honors in 2011 and NJCBA all-rookie honors in 2010.
2012: Ranked second on the team with a 3.56 ERA. Posted a 5-7 overall record and 3-2 in Great West play. Pitched 93.2 innings while striking out a team-leading 95 batters. Leiter pitched three complete games and one shut-out. Struck-out a season-high 11 batters vs. NYIT on May 17th.
Summer 2011: First-team all-PGCBL (Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League) for the Amsterdam MoHawks. #9 prospect chosen by Baseball America in the PGCBL. Started 10 games finishing the season with a 2.67 ERA. Recorded a 4-3 record with one shutout (8-0 vs. Elmira Pioneers; July 14) and 74 strikeouts (which led the league) in 54 innings pitched.
Courtesy of NJIT Athletics
