The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team captured its first conference win of the season at Monmouth on Monday evening, 71-67, in a game televised live on MSG from Boylan Gymnasium in W. Long Branch, NJ. The Knights improve to 1-6 on the season and 1-1 in the Northeast Conference, while the Hawks fall to 1-9 overall, including a 0-2 mark in league action.
Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen), fresh off a 31-point performance at Sacred Heart on Saturday, led all scorers with 23 points, 15 of which came in the second half. Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow) recorded a season-high 20 points (12 in the second half) and Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Notre Dame Prep (MA)) added 17 points and seven assists. Baptiste connected on five three-pointers, going 3-for-4 from three-point range in the second half.
After shooting 32 percent in the first 20 minutes and 30 percent from behind the arc, FDU bounced back to shoot 44 percent from the floor and 67 percent from three-range.
Monmouth jumped out to an 11-0 lead, holding the Knights scoreless for the first 6:50 of the game. But FDU was able to get in the game, reeling off seven-straight. Baptiste started the run by sinking a three from the top of the arc. Mofunanya dunked an offensive rebound and then sank a jumper.
A trey from Tyler made it a three-point game (13-10) with 9:39 remaining in the first half, but the Hawks went on a 7-2 run (20-12).
Sinking two from line, Tyler returned it to a three-point game, 22-19, with 4:40 left to play before the break. But the Hawks staged a 7-0 run over the next minute and a half to take a 10-point lead.
Mofunanya converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 29-22 with three minutes left in the first frame. Baptiste sank a three with 11 seconds on the clock to send the game into the half with Monmouth ahead, 35-25.
The second half turned physical, as after only 10 fouls in the first half, aggressive play in the final 20 minutes led to 30 foul calls. Monmouth out-scored the Knights, 9-3, out of the break, with five of the nine points coming from the charity stripe, to take its largest lead of the game, 44-29.
The Knights shifted momentum with stellar play on both sides of the court. Over the next five and a half minutes, FDU took control of the game, out-scoring Monmouth, 20-6, to make it a one-point game (53-52). George Barbour hit two free throws for Monmouth, but FDU held Monmouth scoreless for the next two minutes.
Mofunanya converted yet another bucket and point after before Baptiste connected on a pair from the line. Tyler then sank back-to-back baskets with 8:37 left to play as he grabbed a steal and Fairleigh Dickinson forced a Hawk turnover.
After trading baskets over the next five minutes, the Hawks took a 67-61 lead with 2:24 remaining. Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep), who came up clutch in the final minutes of the game, sank a three-pointer on an assist from Tyler. Mofunanya grabbed the defensive board and Tyler fed it back to Mofunanya for a jumper as MU held a 67-66 edge with 1:43 left.
FDU finished the game on a huge 10-0 run to take control of the game and secure the come-from-behind victory. Tyler hit the back-end of a pair of free throws to tie up the game at 67.
After Monmouth missed a pair of free throws, FDU took its first lead of the game as Grier took an offensive rebound and put it back in the hoop for to give FDU a huge 69-67 edge.
Mofunanya was able to force a turnover on Monmouth's inbounds pass under the FDU basket with 2.2 seconds on the clock. Baptiste calmly sank two from the line with only one second remaining to finish with the win.
“I'm elated about the win,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “That's exactly what this team needed to feel better about themselves. I think we showed an awful lot of character. We were down 15 with 15 minutes to go, down 10 with 10 minutes to go and then down six with two and a half to go. But we just hung in there.”
“In the second half, we had three two-minute stretches of good defense, stopping on one end and scoring on the other end to get the victory.”
“Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow) had a big game for us off the bench,” said Green. “Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) had a solid game for us- he is playing like we expect him to play. Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Notre Dame Prep (MA)) had a very good second half for us. He ran the offense the way we expect him to, as evidenced by the six second-half assists. “
“Hopefully we can build on this win,” said Green.
FDU now leads the Garden State Rivalry Series, which the Knights won last year in the contest's inaugural year. The trophy is decided by the sum of points between both meetings of both the men's and women's teams. The FDU women's team won the first game of the doubleheader in overtime, 60-56.
Mofunanya led the Knights on the boards with eight rebounds and Baptiste added seven boards. Mofunanya was 6-for-8 from the floor, while Baptiste was 7-for-8, including 5-of-8 from behind the arc and 4-for-4 from the line. FDU out-rebounded the Hawks, 41-34.
The Knights are back in action on Saturday, Dec. 13 when they play at Army in West Point, NY at 7:00 p.m.
