The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball fell to visiting Sacred Heart, 86-82, on Tuesday evening at the Stratis Arena. The Knights fall to 14-13 overall with a 9-7 league record, while the Pioneers improve to 14-13 with a 10-6 mark in conference play.
FDU took an 8-4 lead on a three from Michael Peeples (Detroit, MI/Benedictine) (Detroit, MI) and the Pioneers responded with the next four to tie up the game, but Manny Ubilla (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) (Freehold, NJ) netted a long three to keep the Knights in the lead.
Fairleigh Dickinson took an 18-11 advantage after Peeples fed Andre Harris (Detroit, MI/Robichaud) (Detroit, MI) for a dunk and Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Notre Dame Prep) (Jamaica, NY) followed it with a pair of three-pointers.
The Pioneers went on a 7-2 run to make it a three-point game, 23-20, but Peeples came back with a pair of from behind the arc to help the Knights take a 31-25 edge.
Ryan Litke connected from long-range to bring the Pioneers within one point, 33-32, with eight minutes remaining in the game. Litke gave Sacred Heart its first lead since the 19:33 mark of the game, 34-33, on a basket with just over six minutes left in the half.
A lay up by Harris gave the Knights a 39-38 lead with four minutes left, but the Pioneers out-scored the Knights, 9-4, to end the half and enter the break with a 47-43 lead.
Harris, Peeples and Tyler all entered the half in double-digits, as Harris and Tyler recorded 12 points and Peeples added 11. The Knights made seven first-half three-pointers and held an edge on the boards, 17-15, not allowing any offensive rebounds for Sacred Heart.
SHU shot 64 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes while Fairleigh Dickinson shot 46 percent from the field, 58 percent from three-point range and went a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.
FDU got it down to a three point deficit, 50-47, but the Pioneers went on a 5-1 offensive spurt.
Harris grabbed a steal on the Knights' full court pressure defense and converted to two points on the other end with a jumper. Bernell Murray (Stillwater, OK) netted a long jumper from just inside the arc to knot the game at 55-55 and cap a 7-0 run.
Sacred Heart responded reeling off five-straight points to get back in the lead. Harris converted a three-point play and then hit one of two from the line to whittle it down to a one-point game, 60-59, with just over 10 minutes left to play.
Jarrid Frye connected on a pair of free throws followed by a dunk to give the Pioneers the 64-59 advantage. Drew Shubik then laid it in to cap an 11-2 run by Sacred Heart that resulted in a double-digit lead, 71-61.
Tyler sank a three and Ubilla followed it with back-to-back lay ups to make it a three-point gap, 71-68. Tyler connected on one from behind the arc to knot the score, 71-71, and make it 10-straight unanswered points by Fairleigh Dickinson with under five minutes in regulation.
FDU regained the lead, 74-73, for the first time in the second frame when Tyler sank a three-pointer but Sacred Heart climbed back on two free throws from Shubik.
Peeples connected on one from the free throw line to bring the Knights within one, but Litke swished a three on the other end to keep the Pioneers' lead.
With 28.5 seconds on the clock, Tyler took the inbounds and drove it in for a bucket to make it 84-81. SHU put in six from the charity stripe in the final two minutes to make the final score 86-82.
In the second half, the Knights had 14 second chance points while allowing the Pioneers only four. FDU held a 42-31 advantage on the boards, allowing Sacred Heart only three offensive rebounds for the game.
Tyler led the team with 24 points, while Harris finished with 22 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Peeples matched his career-high of 20 points and Ubilla put in 14 points.
“The first time we played them, we knew it was going to be a shootout,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “We were going to play better defense this time around, but it everything went out the window. Our defense this time around, perimeter and interior, was just not good. You can't give up 86 points and expect to win too many games. They shot 56.7 percent and that is way too many open looks that we gave them.”
The Knights are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Wagner.
