Sacred Heart defeated the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team, 92-81, on Thursday night at the Stratis Arena. The Knights fall to 6-13 on the season, including a 2-7 mark in Northeast Conference play, while the Pioneers improve to 12-10, with a 9-2 record in league action.
Manny Ubilla (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) (Freehold, NJ) led the Knights with a game-high 29 points and nine rebounds. Eric Hazard (Long Branch, NJ/St. Benedict's) (Long Branch, NJ) almost recorded his second double-double of the season, notching a career-high 16 points and grabbing nine rebounds. DeJuan Pursley (Leonia, NJ/Leonia) (Leonia, NJ), who earned his first career start as a Knight, added 14 points and seven rebounds and Bernell Murray (Stillwater, OK/Stillwater) (Stillwater, OK) chipped in 13 points.
Fairleigh Dickinson took an early 9-5 lead on a trey from Murray and a pair of three-pointers from Ubilla.
Six minutes into the first half, the Knights stretched their lead to 18-10 after a three from Ubilla and a lay-in from Hazard.
The Knights led 20-12 after out-scoring Sacred Heart, 7-2, over a two-minute span. But Sacred Heart was able to trim the lead down to two, 24-22, and forged ahead to take the lead, 27-26, on a three-pointer from Corey Hassan (Merrimack, NH).
After the Pioneers took a six-point lead, the Knights were able to cut it to 32-30 with 6:49 on the clock on four-straight points from Hazard.
Sacred Heart again pushed its lead up to six, but a lay up from Ubilla followed by a jumper from Murray cut the Pioneers lead down to 40-38 with under three minutes remaining in the half.
The Pioneers scored six unanswered points to take a 46-38 advantage, but the Knights answered with five-straight to make it 46-43 with 27 seconds on the clock. Luke Granato (Rocky Hill, CT) connected on a lay up with eight seconds remaining to send Sacred Heart into the locker room with a 48-43 lead.
Ubilla entered the half leading all scorers with 17 points and Murray chipped in all of his 13 points in the first 20 minutes. Sacred Heart out-rebounded the Knights in the first half, 25-15. FDU was able to shoot 53 percent, while SHU shot 49 percent.
The Pioneers took their first double-digit lead of the game, 53-43, a minute and a half into the second period, scoring the first eight points of the half.
Hazard was able to cut the lead, 59-53, on a pair from behind the arc. But the Pioneers went on an 8-0 run to return to the double-digit gap. Ryon Howard (Bronx, NY) converted a three-point play to give Sacred Heart its largest lead of the game, 79-64, with 8:16 on the clock. But the Knights staged a 9-3 run to get back in the game, making it a nine-point deficit with 4:37 left to play.
Ubilla converted an old-fashioned three-point play and then connected on a pair from the line to cut Sacred Heart's advantage to 81-71. Michael Blackgrove (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) (River Vale, NJ) and Hazard put in back-to-back baskets to cut the Pioneers' edge to 84-75 with under five minutes remaining in the game.
Ubilla found Pursley underneath the basket to make it 86-77, but the Pioneers won by a final score of 92-81.
Sacred Heart received 28 points from its bench, while the Knights had only nine. After getting out-scored in the paint, 26-16, in the first half, FDU came back to out-score Sacred Heart in the paint in the second frame, 20-14.
“We knew coming into this game that they were a great outside shooting team and they proved it tonight,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “They had well-balanced scoring, with five guys in double-digits.”
“We gave them way too many open looks,” said Green. “We let them shoot the ball 80 times and gave them 15 offensive rebounds. We shot well overall, finishing with 50 percent, and I'm happy about that.”
Brice Brooks (Silverdale, WA) led the Pioneers with 17 points. Drew Shubik (Stoystown, PA) and Howard each recorded double-doubles, with Shubik turning in 16 points and 14 boards and Howard finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Granato had 14 points and Hassan added 11 points.
The Knights are back in action when they host Quinnipiac on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 7:00 p.m., following the women's game.
