The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team was edged by visiting Robert Morris, 64-59, on Thursday evening at Stratis Arena. The Knights fall to 5-8 overall, with a 1-2 mark in Northeast Conference action, while the Colonials improve their record to 12-5, including a 2-1 streak in league play.
The Knights were led by senior guard Manny Ubilla (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) (Freehold, NJ), who recorded 17 points. Senior guard Bernell Murray (Stillwater, OK/Stillwater) (Stillwater, OK) added 16 points and four steals and sophomore guard Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) (North Brunswick, NJ) chipped in 13 points.
The Knights took an early 6-3 lead in a tightly-contested first half, but the Colonials put in four straight for a 7-6 lead. Ubilla regained the lead for the Knights with a basket from behind the arc.
Dallas Green (Indianapolis, IN) knotted the game, 9-9, on a jumper, but the Knights were able to take a 13-10 advantage on back-to-back jumpers by Murray and Baptiste.
A tip-in from Jeremy Chappell (Cincinnati, OH) returned the lead to Robert Morris, 14-13, but Murray staked a three from the corner to get the lead back.
Down one point, 17-16, it was Baptiste's turn to give the lead back to the Knights, draining a shot from three-point range.
The Colonials scored five unanswered points to take a 22-19 edge with four minutes left in the first half., but Fairleigh Dickinson was able to tie up the game, responding with a free throw from Ubilla and jumper from Murray. Ubilla posted up underneath the basket to take the lead back for FDU, 24-22.
Baptiste swatted a Robert Morris shot with seven seconds on the clock and Murray sent the rebound over to Ubilla, who pulled up with two seconds on the clock and drained a trey to give Fairleigh Dickinson a 28-26 lead heading into halftime.
In the first half, the Knights coughed up the ball 12 times, and reached on three of eleven attempts from three-point range .
The Colonials came out of the break and started the second half with a 13-3 spurt to take a 39-33 advantage with 15:15 left to play.
Despite Robert Morris' run, the Knights were able to keep themselves in it as Murray netted a floater and then fed a defensive rebound to Baptiste, who worked his way to the hoop to put the Knights within one, 39-38.
The Knights stretched their offense into a run of their own, 11-2, to get back into the game. Baptiste and freshman forward DeJuan Pursley (Leonia, NJ/Leonia) (Leonia, NJ) netted back-to-back jumpers and senior forward Eric Hazard (Long Branch, NJ/St. Benedict's) (Long Branch, NJ) swished a trey to reclaim the lead, 44-41, with 10:40 remaining.
AJ Jackson (Monessen, PA) tied the game up with a three from the top of the arc, 46-46, at the 8:43 mark. But freshman forward John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) (Weston, CT) converted an old-fashioned three-point play to push FDU ahead.
Tony Lee (Boston, MA) put Robert Morris on top, 50-49, with a lay-up, but Ubilla connected on a pair from the line before stealing the ball and netting the fast break lay-up. The two teams traded baskets with four ties and seven lead changes in the final 20 minutes.
The Knights took a 59-56 advantage on a three-pointer from Ubilla, but Lee hit a jumper for RMU to trim that lead to one. The final six points of the game were all from the Colonials' charity stripe to give them the 64-59 win as the Knights were held scoreless for the final 4:19 of the game.
The Knights finished the game shooting 43.8 percent from the floor, while Robert Morris shot 41.9 percent. Robert Morris outscored FDU in the paint, 28-14, and received 16 points from its bench, while Fairleigh Dickinson had only three.
“The statistic that stands out to me is 22 turnovers,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “We knew coming in to this game that they were one of the best teams in the league and when we watched tape on them we were impressed with their defense. They defended us well.”
“When it's an even game like this, it comes down to the last three minutes. The game comes down to who makes the stops at the end. The game could have gone either way.”
The Knights will host St. Francis NY on Saturday, January 12 at 7:00 p.m., following the women's match-up with the Terriers at 4:30 p.m.
