Feb. 4, 2006

Box Score

STATEN ISLAND, NY - Five Knights scored in double-digits, with Chad Timberlake (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht)'s game-high 25 points leading the way, to give the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball an 87-72 win over Wagner at the Spiro Center in Staten Island, NY on Saturday afternoon. The Knights' sixth-straight win improves the team to 12-8 overall with a 9-2 mark in conference action, while the Seahawks drop to 10-9 overall, 3-7 in league play.

Timberlake recorded 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting, while Michael Peeples had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Gordon Klaiber and Andrea Crosariol each contributed 16 points and Andre Harris posted 12 points.

The tight play in a game that saw nine ties and 13 lead changes was depicted with two ties in the first three minutes.

Wagner was the first to take hold, grabbing a 17-9 lead on the strength of an 8-1 run over two minutes.

Harris converted a three-point play and Bernell Murray netted a layup to make it 17-16. After Wagner responded, Klaiber hit a layup to again bring the Knights within only one, 19-18, with just under ten minutes left to play in the first half.

The Seahawks out-scored the Knights 10-4 over the next four and half minutes to increase the gap to a seven-point game, 29-22. But the Knights responded strongly, powering ahead with 12-straight points to take the lead, 33-29 with 2:04 left in the half.

Timberlake connected on both ends of a one-and-one to bring the half to a close with the fifth tie, 35-35.

The trio of Timberlake, Crosariol and Klaiber turned up the heat in the second half, combing to score 44 of their 57 total points in the final 20 minutes.

The Knights, who shot 62 percent from the floor in the second half, held Wagner to 37.1 percent. After going 0-for-4 in three-point attempts, FDU came back after the break hitting 4-of-5 from the arc.

Timberlake poured in 11 of the Knights' first 15 second-half points to start the team off with momentum. He netted a free throw to record the second half's fifth tie in five minutes and then connected on the second attempt to give the Knights the lead and start what would become a 10-1 run, sparked by five points from Crosariol.

The Knights were able to push their edge up to double-digits, gaining a ten-point margin, 67-57, with 7:14 remaining on the board.

Crosariol's dunk gave the Knights a seven-point advantage, but Durell Vinson's layup with 5:08 on the clock put the Seahawks back in the game, 69-64.

The Knights sealed the win with an 11-1 run, capped by one of Klaiber's trio of three-pointers, making it 80-65 with three minutes remaining. Fairleigh Dickinson then staged a 7-2 run over the next two minutes for its' biggest lead of the game, 87-70, with just over a minute left.

Doug Elwell scored with 12 seconds remaining to make the final score 87-72.

Vinson notched 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Seahawks. Vinson was 11-of-18 from the floor and led four Seahawks in double-digits as Mark Porter contributed 12 points, Jamal Smith added 13 and James Ulrich had 11. DeEarnest McLemore dished out a game-high 10 assists.

"I thought it was a great team effort," said Head Coach Tom Green. "We played solid FDU basketball, especially in the second half. Vinson was definitely a handful, but we were able to clamp down on the other players."

"Chad continues to play very well, he is looking for his shots and being aggressive, doing what we want him to do and this afternoon he gave another big effort. Our frontcourt, Andrea, Gordon, Mike and Andre, all played very well. It's great to be 9-2 at this juncture in the season."

The Knights, who missed only one free throw in the first half (9-10), made 12-of-18 in the second frame to finish the game shooting 75 percent from the charity stripe.

The Knights are back in action on Monday, when they host Robert Morris at the Rothman Center at 7:00 p.m. The Knights are on pace to string together their longest winning streak since the 1999-2000 season (seven games).