March 14, 2006

Box Score

RIVERDALE, NY - The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team closed out its season with an 80-77 loss to Manhattan College in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at Draddy Gymnasium on Tuesday evening. The Knights end with their second consecutive 20-win season at 20-12 while Manhattan improves to 19-10.

Senior forward Gordon Klaiber paced the Knights with 21 points and eight rebounds. For the 13th and final time this season, Klaiber and senior guard Chad Timberlake combined for over 30 points, with Timberlake registering 16. Andre Harris recorded 13 points and Michael Peeples added 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Knights whittled down a five-point Manhattan lead as Klaiber sank two free throws and then hit a big three to tie up the game at 71 with 3:33 left on the clock.

Jeff Xavier responded with a three of his own, but Klaiber forced the sixth tie of the half when he drained a long three on the ensuing possession. With 1:41 remaining, Jason Wingate calmly netted two free throws, but Peeples gave the Knights hope and the lead, swishing a feed from Cameron Tyler behind the arc for a 77-76 advantage.

Wingate, who scored Manhattan's final six points, hit a jumper with under a minute to play. On the other end, Klaiber grabbed the rebound off his own missed free throw, but Arturo Dubois grabbed a key steal with 25 seconds on the clock.

Wingate sealed the game with two free throws as the Knights had a shot to tie up the game, but a three-pointer from Timberlake with 10 seconds on the clock didn't fall.

The Jaspers went on a 7-0 run to start the second half, but Fairleigh Dickinson stormed back with a 19-8 run to take its largest lead of the game, 64-60, capped by a three-point play from Tyler with 8:40 remaining. Over a four-minute stretch, the Jaspers responded with an 11-2 surge to grab a 71-66 lead.

Manhattan took a 6-5 lead to start the game, with Peeples accounting for the Knights' first five points. The Jaspers then staged a 13-2 run to grab possession of a 19-7 advantage.

Peeples ended a three-minute scoring drought when he drained a turnaround jumper at the 13:37 mark.

Tyler converted an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the Jasper edge to seven, 19-12, but back-to-back buckets by Dubois pushed Manhattan ahead, 23-12.

The Knights answered, scoring seven-straight, capped with Timberlake draining a long three to cut the margin to 23-19.

Timberlake connected on a layup and the point after to make it 26-22 with 9:25 remaining in the half.

Klaiber had a forceful block that changed momentum as Harris connected on a three-pointer and then swatted away the ball on the other end of the court.

Timberlake's baseline jumper made it a one-point game, 28-27, and the Knights took their first lead of the game when he dropped in two for a 31-30 advantage with 6:21 left in the half.

The two teams traded baskets until a trey from Xavier opened a five-point lead, 41-36, for Manhattan. The Knights closed out the first half with five straight, including a three from the top of the arc by Klaiber to knot the score at 45-45 entering the break.

"We knew coming in that it was going to be a tough game," said Head Coach Tom Green. "One of our nemeses all year long as been free throw shooting. We had only one turnover in the first half and finished with 11, so their pressure defense got to us a little bit in the second half, but it all goes back to our foul shots. It's a credit to Manhattan's defense on the last play of the game."

FDU went to the line 32 times but only connected on 18 attempts, while the Jaspers shot 78.9 percent from the charity stripe (15-of-19).

"Chad and Gordon have been the foundation of putting this program back to where we want it to be," said Green. "We won 15 games their first year, 17 their sophomore year and had back-to-back 20 win seasons and postseason play in their junior and senior years. We have only two seniors to replace, but they are two big players."

"I take my hat off to Fairleigh Dickinson," said Manhattan Head Coach Bobby Gonzalez. "They have two special players in Klaiber and Timberlake. I didn't think we could stop those guys, they're both very talented. I think tonight you saw two championship-caliber teams that could've been in the NCAA Tournament fighting to advance in a national postseason tournament."

After getting out-rebounded, 20-12, in the first 20 minutes of the game, the Knights bounced back, finishing the game with a slight-edge on the boards, 35-33.

This was the second trip to the NIT in program history for the Knights, with the first resulting in a 90-85 loss to Siena in 1991.