Michael Peeples (Detroit, MI/Benedictine) (Detroit, MI) went 15-of-17 from the line, sinking nine free throws in the final minutes, to lead the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team to a thrilling 96-95 victory over visiting Wagner. The Knights climbed back into the game on the strength of their full-court pressure defense and improve to 7-6, with a 2-0 mark in the NEC, while the Seahawks fall to 4-10 on the season and 1-2 in league play.
Wagner took a 6-2 lead to start the game, but FDU scored 13-straight, sparked by seven points from Manny Ubilla (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) (Freehold, NJ) to take charge, 15-6. But the Seahawks responded with 10-straight to reclaim the lead, 16-15.
Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Notre Dame Prep)'s (Jamaica, NY) behind-the-back assist to Andre Harris (Detroit, MI/Robichaud) (Detroit, MI) gave the Knights back the lead, 17-15. After a bucket by Jamal Smith to give the Seahawks a 18-17 lead, the Knights went on a 7-2 run, capped by a three-point play from Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) (North Brunswick, NJ) to take a 25-20 edge.
A jumper by James Ulrich knotted the score at 27-27 and Llewchean Radford's lay up gave the Seahawks the lead.
The Seahawks closed out the half on a 9-2 run, threatening to enter halftime with a seven-point lead, 36-29, but Eric Hazard's (Long Branch, NJ) three as the clock wound down made it 36-32, with Wagner in the lead, heading into the break.
Harris entered the half with 12 points and Ubilla entered with 10 points and four rebounds. The Knights shot 50 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes, holding the Seahawks to 41 percent. FDU also shot 43 percent from behind the arc while Wagner made only 3-of-12.
Wagner used back-to-back three pointers from Joey Mundweiler and Matt Vitale to make the score 44-34. A 17-3 run over the first five minutes of the second half by Wagner gave them a 53-36 cushion with 14:31 remaining in the game.
The Knights responded with a 16-4 run, capped by four free throws from Ubilla and Peeples, to bring the Knights within six, 57-51, with just under 11 minutes left.
The Seahawks pushed their lead back up to double-digits, as they took a 65-51 edge on jumper from Smith.
An effective full-court press by the FDU defense brought the Knights within one-point as they scored nine-straight, 67-66.
A tip-in from Radford gave the Seahawks a four-point lead, 75-71, but Murray connected on a three off an assist by Peeples to take it back down to a one-point game.
The Knights then took the lead on a lay up from Peeples, 76-75, and were able to stretch it to a four-point lead with 13 seconds on the clock, 85-81, on a pair from the line from Peeples.
Mark Porter pulled up at the top of the arc and sank a three with 8.2 seconds left in regulation to make it a one-point game. Peeples hit the second of two free throws to make it 86-84 with 7.2 seconds remaining, but Porter sank two from the line on the other end to send the game into overtime, 86-86.
From just inside the arc, Porter started off the scoring in overtime, making it 88-86 in favor of Wagner.
James Ulrich connected on one of two from the free throw line and the Seahawks took possession of the rebound from the second shot as Porter netted a lay up to give them a 91-86 lead.
Tyler found Ubilla behind the three-point line and he connected to make it a two-point game. The two teams traded buckets until Tyler found himself on the line with 1:08 remaining in the overtime. He made the first and Hazard grabbed the rebound off the second shot, which Ubilla sank to give the Knights a 94-93 lead with 46 seconds left to play.
Ulrich connected on a lay up with 29 seconds to reclaim the lead for Wagner, but with five seconds left on the clock, Peeples drove towards the basket and was fouled, but calmly sank two, giving the Knights a 96-95 victory.
“Obviously the free throws were the difference in the game,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “It was tremendous for us. So many times the game comes down to who makes their free throws.”
“We were just thing to pull a rabbit out of a hat, fortunately, there was a rabbit in the hat to pull out,” said Green. “Brian Lytle (Union, NJ/St. Marks) gave us a huge lift-- you can't see it in the stat sheet, but he gave us energy off the bench,” said Green.
FDU had six players score in double-digits for the first time this year. Ubilla led the Knights with 25 points, including a trio of three-pointers, and Peeples scored a career-high 20 points, with 15 coming from the line. Harris had 14 points, Murray and Hazard each added 12 and Tyler chipped in 10 points. Hazard sank 4-of-8 from three-point range. Harris, Peeples and Ubilla each had six rebounds and Tyler dished out a team-high five assists. Seven of Ubilla's 25 points came in the overtime frame.
The Knights finished the game shooting 44 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line. Wagner shot 54 percent from the field and 75 percent from the line.
The Knights were edged on the boards, 38-36. Fairleigh Dickinson was able to score 22 points off of turnovers and received 27 points from its bench.
Smith led the Seahawks with 24 points. Ulrich poured in 19, Porter gave the team 17 and Vitale and Radford each chipped in 13.
The Knights are back in action on Thursday, January 11 when they host St. Francis PA at the Rothman Center at 7:00 p.m.
