The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team fell to visiting Monmouth, 66-58, on Monday evening at Stratis Arena in a game televised live on FSN-NY. The Knights fall to 7-17, with a 3-11 mark in the Northeast Conference, while the Hawks improve to 6-20 and 3-11 in league action.
Fairleigh Dickinson won the inaugural Garden State Rivalry Series, with the four-game series between both the men's and women's teams ending in a tie and the Knights holding the advantage in points.
Manny Ubilla (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) (Freehold, NJ) led the team with 19 points, while Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) (North Brunswick, NJ) chipped in 16. DeJuan Pursley (Leonia, NJ/Leonia) (Leonia, NJ) notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Ubilla knocked down a three-pointer from the right side to open the game's scoring. Monmouth answered on the ensuing possession, when Whitney Coleman hit a three-pointer as the shot clock expired. Eric Hazard (Long Branch, NJ/St. Benedict's) (Long Branch, NJ) nailed a deep three-ball to propel the Knights to a 9-8 lead.
With 12:31 remaining in the first half, Baptiste hit from downtown following a feed from Ubilla, knotting the contest, 13-13.
The Hawks jumped ahead, 15-13, when Jhamar Youngblood sprang loose in the open court and corralled a pass from Yaniv Simpson for a fast break bucket at the 11:19 mark.
After trading baskets and leads over the first eight minutes, Baptiste connected from deep on the next trip down floor, triggering a 10-point burst by the Knights. Pursley converted a dish from Ubilla inside on right block and Ubilla punctuated the run with a trey, handing FDU a 23-15 advantage with 9:06 left.
Ubilla hit a pull-up jumper in the paint to go up nine, but MU's Youngblood countered with a backdoor lay-in to spark a six-point surge. Following a rare double foul on the same play ? with blocking and player control fouls ? Simpson popped a 12-foot baseline attempt to make it a 29-24 game at the 4:16 mark. MU added another hoop to create a one-possession contest.
Fairleigh Dickinson entered halftime up, 31-30, despite a 10-2 run by the Hawks to conclude the initial 20 minutes.
Ubilla entered the half leading all scorers with 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting. Youngblood led the Hawks with eight points and five rebounds. The two teams shot almost identical as MU connected on 40.6 percent (13-32) from the floor and Fairleigh Dickinson sank 40.7 percent (11-27).
The Hawks opened the second stanza with a 6-0 run, capped by James Hett. But the Knights pushed ahead to take a 40-37 lead, capped by a three-point play from Pursley, with 14 minutes left in regulation.
R.J. Rutledge tied the game up for the fourth time with a trey from the top of the arc and the Hawks finished up a 12-3 run with a jumper from the corner from Coleman for a 49-43 Monmouth lead.
Simpson connected on a three to give Monmouth a 55-45 advantage with 8:43 remaining in the game and Baptiste connected on four from the line to bring the Knights within six with just under seven minutes to play.
With a tip-in from Pursley, the Knights were able to trim Monmouth's lead to 57-51 with 5:44 on the clock, but the Hawks reeled off six-straight to return to a large lead, 63-51.
The Knights were able to cut it to nine, 63-54, but a lay up from Coleman pushed the lead back up to double-digits.
The Hawks held a 39-35 advantage on the boards and shot 44 percent from the floor, holding the Knights to 38 percent. FDU shot 80 percent from the charity stripe and the Hawks only connected on 33 percent. Monmouth's bench held a 31-0 advantage.
“I told the team before the game that this was a must-win for us,” said Head Coach Tom Green, who is only one win shy of 400. “Our backs are against the wall and we are fighting for the last spot to get into the tournament. I told them we had to lay it all out on the line.”
“We didn't get out and defend them well. We allowed both Rutledge and Simpson to shoot 3-for-7 from three-point range. Hats off to Monmouth, they came in here, executed and they made their shots.”
“Any win for any of the last four teams in the conference is an important one.”
Coleman led Monmouth with 15 points and Youngblood notched a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
The Knights are back in action when they host Central Connecticut State on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7:00 p.m.
