The Eastern Kentucky Colonels (3-2) defeated the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team (0-4) in the first game of the Legends Classic Hackensack Subregional, 83-47, on Friday night in the Stratis Arena.
Junior guard Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Notre Dame Prep (MA)) led the Knights with 12 points and six rebounds, while junior guard Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) added 11 points and five boards. Sophomore forward Kamil Svrdlik (Prerov, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Zlin) netted eight points and sophomore forward John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) grabbed six boards.
EKU opened the game with a 12-6 lead, but a three-pointer from sophomore guard Jordan Stasyszyn (Carlisle, PA/Carlisle) brought it to a three-point game. FDU made it a 16-13 game on junior forward Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow)'s lay-in under the basket.
Eastern Kentucky staged a 7-1 run over a four minute span to take a 23-14 advantage in the game. They regained a double-digit lead, 30-19, with 4:03 remaining in the half. Baptiste connected on a pair from the line, then grabbed a steal and converted it into a bucket.
But EKU pulled away, scoring 11 unanswered points for a 41-23 advantage. A free throw shot by Tyler with one second on the clock sent the teams into the break 41-24. The Colonels out-scored the Knights in the paint in the first 20 minutes, 22-14, and the bench scored 24, while the Knights received only three points from their reserves.
FDU and EKU traded baskets to start the second half, with Fairleigh Dickinson out-scoring the Colonels, 13-11, over the first 10 minutes. An emphatic drunk from Mofunanya made it 52-37 with 10:36 left in the game.
A pair of three-pointers from Mike Rose ignited a 20-5 run for the Colonels and EKU stretched it out over the final five minutes for the 83-47 win.
"I thought that we had turned a corner at Mississippi State," said Head Coach Tom Green. "But we took two huge steps back today. We had individuals break down defensively and we didn't execute offensively. I want to see the offense run a whole lot better and a whole lot smoother."
FDU was out-rebounded 43-31 and shot 33 percent from the floor, while Eastern Kentucky shot 56 percent from the field for the game. Fairleigh Dickinson connected on a trio of shots from three-point range, while EKU shot 10of-20 from behind the arc.
The Knights wrap up competition in the Legends Classic on Sunday, Nov. 30 when they play against Akron at 7:00 p.m. The Zips match up against the Colonels on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 7:00 p.m.
