Four players were in double-digits to lead the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team (5-7, 1-1 NEC) past host Mount St. Mary's (7-7, 3-1 NEC), 65-62, on Saturday afternoon at Knott Arena in Emmitsburg, MD. The Knights picked up their first conference win, while handing the Mountaineers their first conference loss of the season.
Senior Manny Ubilla (Freehold, NJ/Freehold), coming off a career-high 39 points against Rhode Island, led Fairleigh Dickinson with 24 points, draining five three-pointers. Sophomore Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) had 14 points, senior Bernell Murray (Stillwater, OK/Stillwater) recorded 11 points and a seven rebounds and senior Eric Hazard (Long Branch, NJ/St. Benedict's) added 10 points. Freshman John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) pulled down nine rebounds. Ubilla added four assists and three steals.
Hazard opened the game with a trey and the Knights took an early 8-2 lead, capped by three from the line by Ubilla.
Ubilla found Hazard under the basket for two points and a 13-9 lead with 12 and a half minutes to go in the first half, but the Mount scored eight unanswered points to take a 17-13 lead in the game with just over nine minutes remaining.
Baptiste connected on a three-pointer and tied the score up again with a free throw to make it 17-17.
A long-range three pointer from Ubilla gave the Knights a 21-17 lead with 6:40 left in the first period. Baptiste connected from behind the arc to give FDU a 24-19 lead with less than four minutes to play.
After a block by freshman DeJuan Pursley (Leonia, NJ/Leonia), Markus Mitchell grabbed the rebound and put it back up to put the Mountaineers within three, 24-21, heading into the half.
Ubilla and Baptiste each entered the half with nine points to lead the Knights and Murray led FDU on the boards with six rebounds in the first frame.
Fairleigh Dickinson held the Mount to only one trey, while five of the Knights' six field goals in the first half were from three-point range.
The Mountaineers came within one, 24-23, at the start of the second half, but back-to-back baskets from Ubilla and Baptiste made it a five-point game.
A three-pointer from Will Holland tied up the game for the third time with just over 17 minutes left to play, 28-28.
The two teams traded baskets over the next four minutes with three more ties ensuing. A tip-in by Galvin, followed by a steal from Ubilla that resulted in two Hazard free throws gave the Knights a 34-32 lead.
The Knights staged an 8-2 run to take a 47-40 lead, capped by a three-pointer from Murray. The Mount responded with five-straight to trim it to a two-point gap with under five minutes left to play.
FDU out-scored the Mount, 8-2, to take a 55-47 lead on Ubilla's three-pointer with less than three minutes to play. Chris Vann came out of a timeout and hit a three for the Mount to make it a five point game, 55-50, but Ubilla drained a trey of his own.
With 1:26 remaining, Vann took another feed from Jeremy Goode and netted a trey to return it to a five-point game, 58-53, but Fairleigh Dickinson quickly made it an eight-point game, 61-53, with less than a minute on the clock.
Ubilla connected on a free throw and Vann missed his next three-point shot with Ubilla's defense. The Knights connected on four of their next six free throws, with Murray sinking all four of his, to take a 58-64 advantage with 23 seconds remaining.
Kelly Beidler dropped in a lay-up at the buzzer to make the final 65-62.
FDU bounced back after shooting 21.4 percent from the floor in the first half to drain 55 percent of its shots in the final 20 minutes.
Mount St. Mary's was led by 15 points from Vann. The Mount put in 20 points in the paint, against the Knights' six, and held a slight edge on the boards, 37-34.
The Knights return home on January 10 to host Robert Morris at 7:00 p.m.
