Four Knights scored in double-digits to lead the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team to an 84-71 victory against host Monmouth on Monday evening at Boylan Gymnasium. The Knights improve to 13-11 overall with an 8-5 mark in conference play while the Hawks fall to 11-14 and 6-7 in league action.
Andre Harris (Detroit, MI/Robichaud) led the Knights with 24 points, while Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Notre Dame Prep) added 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Michael Peeples (Detroit, MI/Benedictine) just missed a double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds and Manny Ubilla (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) poured in 19 points, going 7-of-10 from the floor.
The first 14 minutes of the game were reminiscent of last week's match-up, when the Knights defeated the Hawks, 64-63, on a buzzer-beating shot.
There were eight lead changes and six ties in the first eight minutes. A dunk by Harris gave the Knights an 11-9 lead, but Whitney Coleman knotted the score with a jumper.
An old-fashioned three point play by Jhamar Youngblood made it 14-11 in favor of the Hawks. Tyler's no-look pass to Eric Hazard in the corner for a three put the Knights up, 25-24. Ubilla followed with a three of his own for a four-point lead, but back-to-back lay ups from Marques Alston turned it back into a one-point game.
After a tightly played first start to the half, the Knights went on a 17-4 run to close out the half, taking a commanding 46-32 lead. The Knights allowed the Hawks only one field goal in the final eight minutes of the half.
FDU entered the half ahead, 46-32, with three players leading the way with double-digits. Harris had three blocks and 12 points in the first 20 minutes and Peeples and Ubilla each had 11. Peeples was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor and 1-for-1 from the line.
In the first 20 minutes, the Knights had 22 points in the paint, allowing Monmouth 14 and converted 16 points off of turnovers while giving up only eight. FDU shot 59 percent, and 67 percent from long-range, to enter the break, while they held MU to 42 percent from the floor and 27 percent from the perimeter. Fairleigh Dickinson also gave itself 14 second chance points while allowing only five on the other side.
The Knights didn't let the momentum subside, storming of the half on an 8-0 run to take a 55-32 lead. Fairleigh Dickinson's defense allowed only one field goal in the first five minutes of the second frame. The run was capped with two free throws by Peeples to give the Knights their biggest lead of the game, 55-32.
FDU was able to extend the run to 13-6 with all six points by Monmouth coming from Youngblood.
The Knights took off and never looked back, as they maintained a 20-point gap over six minutes.
The Hawks staged a 12-2 run with four points coming from John Bunch and five from Dejan Delic, to get the gap down to 68-57. But the Knights responded by out-scoring the Hawks 14-7 over the next five minutes. FDU was able to keep the Hawks scoreless from the field for over two minutes down the stretch.
The Knights out-rebounded the Hawks, 38-28, and held an edge in shooting percentage (57 percent- 41 percent).
“This was a very satisfying team win,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “I thought that we, as a team, and Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Notre Dame Prep) in particular, did a great job of establishing the tempo. Our shot selection tonight was as good as it has been in any game we've played all year.”
“Cameron and Manny played very smart and very well. They got the ball to the right people at the right times. Andre Harris (Detroit, MI/Robichaud) had another phenomenal game and Mike Peeples came up really big for us when we needed him,” said Green.
“Playing at Monmouth is always difficult. The last few years we always seem to play well there, win or lose. We were able to keep our lead and that kept the crowd out of the game, which helped.”
The Knights are back in action when they host Long Island University at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday evening.
