Feb. 9, 2006

Box Score

BROOKLYN, NY - The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team cruised past host Long Island, 96-74, at the Wellness Center in Brooklyn, NY on Thursday evening. The Knights improve to 14-8 with an 11-2 mark in the NEC, while the Blackbirds drop to 7-13 overall with a 4-7 record in league action. The Knights have won eight-straight games, the longest winning streak in the program since the 1996-97 season.

Gordon Klaiber led all scorers with a season-high 30 points, going 9-of-14 from the floor and hitting four three-pointers. Klaiber was one of five Knights to score in double-digits, as Fairleigh Dickinson got 15 points from Michael Peeples, 13 points from Chad Timberlake and 11 from Bernell Murray. Andrea Crosariol notched his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The contest started off reminiscent of February 2, the first time the two teams met this season, when the Knights jumped out to a 10-0 lead to start the game en route to a 78-65 victory.

On Thursday night, the game started with the Knights blanking the Blackbirds, 12-0. The Knights held LIU scoreless for the first four minutes of the contest and limited them to only two points in the first five minutes. With 14:26 left in the first half, FDU held a nine-point lead, the final time in the game that its advantage would be in single-digits.

Back-to-back treys by Timberlake gave the Knight a 21-5 lead. Peeples drained a jumper with 11:32 left in the half to give the Knights their first 20-point lead of the game. The Blackbirds staged a 12-5 run to get as close as 11, but they weren't able to cut it down to a single-digit margin before the half ended, 44-28.

Klaiber entered the break with 15 points to lead all scorers, and went 5-of-6 from the line.

Fairleigh Dickinson scored the first seven points of the second half, but the 10-2 run that gave the Knights their biggest lead of the game at 24, 54-30, was cut short when all four of the Blackbirds' field goals over the next three minutes were from beyond the arc.

An 11-2 spurt by the Blackbirds brought them within 15, but FDU was able to regain its 20-point lead on a three-pointer by Peeples.

Evan Meekins connected on a three-pointer to help LIU cut the lead down to 11 with 6:18 remaining, but the Knights outscored them 11-2 over the next three minutes. With 26 seconds left on the clock, Eric Hazard drained one from behind the arc to help the Knights match their biggest lead of the game, 96-72.

In the second half, the Knights out-scored the Blackbirds, 20-8, in the paint and had 10 fast break points, while holding Long Island scoreless on fast breaks.

James Williams led the Blackbirds with 25 points, including a stretch of eight-straight, going 7-of-18 from the floor, including hitting 4-of-9 from three-point range. Williams was a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe. Randy Jones led LIU on the boards, grabbing 10.

Fairleigh Dickinson out-rebounded LIU, 44-33, and used its' highest field goal percentage of the season (34-for-54; 63 percent) to roll to victory. The Knights also broke their season-highs from beyond the arc, netting 13 three-pointers to break their previous record of 11 and shooting 68.4 percent to erase the previous high of 55 percent.

FDU, 10th in the nation in blocks per game, recorded eight rejections, against only one by LIU. Crosariol, 16th nationally in blocks per game, swatted away four to creep closer to the all-time record with 143.

The Knights are back in action against Mount Saint Mary's on Saturday, Feb. 11 when they host Mount St. Mary's at 7:30 p.m. The men's basketball program will host Alumni Day, hosting an alumni game scheduled to start at 5:45 p.m. along with honoring the 1984-85 men's team.