The sixth-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team fell in the Northeast Conference Tournament quarterfinals to host No. 3 Quinnipiac, 78-77. The Knights finish the season with a 14-16 record.
The Knights took the lead to start the game, but the Bobcats were able to take an 11-8 lead on a bucket by Chris Wehye.
FDU went on an 11-2 run to take a 19-13 lead, with five points in the run coming from Manny Ubilla (Freehold, NJ/Freehold).
The Knights scored 12-straight points while holding the Quinnipiac Bobcats without a field goal for almost six minutes to take a double-digit lead, 36-23. Fairleigh Dickinson was able to extend its lead to 41-26 on a three-point from Bernell Murray.
Andre Harris (Detroit, MI/Robichaud) extended his double-digit scoring streak to 30 games, entering the half with 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting. The Knights, who entered the half ahead 42-34, held a 20-12 advantage on the boards, allowing the Bobcats only three offensive boards.
The Bobcats out-scored the Knights coming out of the break, 12-1. Quinnipiac went on a run, capped by three treys from Van Crafton to take their first lead since the 14:29 mark of the first half, 59-58, with 10:35 remaining in the game. The trio of three's were in a string of 12-straight points from Crafton over the course of two minutes.
Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) made back-to-back buckets to bring the Knights within one. After Quinnipiac led by as many six, the Knights staged an 8-1 run, capped by a bucket from Michael Peeples (Detroit, MI/Benedictine), to take a 71-70 lead. A long jumper just inside the arc from Harris with 1:10 on the clock tied the game at 73-73.
Casey Cosgrove hit a three with under a minute remaining to give the Bobcats a 76-73 lead, but Harris hit two free throws to keep it a two-point game.
Baptiste had a steal and then got fouled on his way to the hoop. With 18.2 seconds on the clock and a screaming crowd of over 900 people, Baptiste sank two to give the Knights a 77-76 lead.
On the other end, Crafton was sent to the line for a one-and-one and made both for the 78-77 final. The Knights had the ball with 5.9 seconds on the clock and went the length of the floor, but the shot in traffic didn't fall as the buzzer sounded.
Harris finished the game with 21 points, two blocks and seven rebounds to lead the team. Tyler added 17 points and five assists and Peeples had 16 points.
“It was a hard-fought game,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “It's a shame that someone had to lose. I can't ask the team to play any harder and I can't ask any more of them. We knew it was going to be a dogfight and it really was. There was too much Van Crafton for us."
"This was the 19th game this season decided by five points or less. In a tight game, a bounce here or a bounce there and a close game could have gone either way.”
The Knights out-rebounded the Bobcats, 37-30. Quinnipiac shot 90 percent from the free throw line, while the Knights connected on 70 percent (12-for-23). QU was 9-of-19 from three-point range, making six of those treys in the final 20 minutes.
