Kamil Svrdlik (Prerov, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Zlin)'s (Prerove, Czech Republic) season-high 16 points led three Knights in double-digits, helping the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team defeat Monmouth, 64-55, on Monday evening. The Knights improve to 3-4 in the Northeast Conference and 3-14 overall, while the Hawks fall to 5-14 overall, including a 3-4 mark in league play.
Svrdlik added eight rebounds and two blocks, while Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) (North Brunswick, NJ) had 14 points and three steals and Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Notre Dame Prep (MA)) (Jamaica, NY) had 10 points and six assists. John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) (Weston, CT) added seven rebounds.
The Knights won the Garden State Rivalry Series Trophy for the second-straight year, a contest that is judged on the outcome of all four games (two men's basketball games, two women's basketball games) between Fairleigh Dickinson and Monmouth.
Svrdlik put back an offensive rebound and connected on the free throw after to give the Knights a 9-2 lead, but back-to-back three-pointers from Yaniv Simpson and James Hett tied the game up at 11-11 with 15:43 on the clock. The Knights led, 15-13, for two minutes as neither team was able to add to the score until Tyler ended the draught, sinking a jumper.
Baptiste put in a bucket to give FDU a 19-15 lead with11:21 remaining in the first half, but a jumper from R.J. Rutledge followed by a dunk from Travis Taylor knotted the score for the third time in the first half.
The Hawks took their first lead of the game on a trey from Simpson, taking a 22-21 advantage, but the Knights reeled off six unanswered points to regain the lead with five minutes left in the first frame.
Fairleigh Dickinson went on a 12-4 run over a span of five and a half minutes to grab a 33-26 lead with 1:28 remaining.
The Knights were up at halftime for the first time this season with a 33-28 lead. FDU shot 43 percent in the first 20 minutes and held a 17-14 edge on the boards. Baptiste led the team with 10 points, while Tyler led the Knights on the boards with five rebounds.
Svrdlik opened the second half with a three-point play to give the Knights a 36-28 lead. The Hawks were able to chip FDU's lead down to four, but Svrdlik sank his first three-pointer of the season to give Fairleigh Dickinson a 46-37 edge with 14:33 left to play.
Tyler dished the ball out to Baptiste on a fast break to give FDU the 52-43 advantage, but Monmouth whittled it down to a five-point game on a pair of free throws from Alex Nunner, 58-53, with 2:23 on the clock.
A steal by Tyler led to a foul on Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) (Cranford, NJ), who connected on the second of two from the line to give Fairleigh Dickinson a 59-53 lead.
Eric Moore (Dover, NJ/St. Benedict's) (Dover, NJ), who finished with five points and three assists, was sent to the charity stripe after a big block from Svrdlik on the other end. Moore calmly sank both shots to push the Knights lead back to eight.
Taylor connected on a layup for Monmouth with 34 seconds to go, but Grier put in both free throws and Moore added another one to make the final 64-55.
“This was a good team victory,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “It is an important win in the conference because it brings us back into the middle of the pack.”
“Tonight's focus was a combination of a quick tempo and intense defense,” said Green. “I thought that we did a good defensive job on the team for the most part. I thought that we played one of our more intelligent halves in the second half tonight. We spent timeouts diagramming what to look for and the guys listened and did what we asked them to do.”
FDU held a 34-28 edge on the boards and shot 44 percent to the Hawks' 42 percent. The Knights held an edge in steals (7-2), points in the paint (30-26) and points off of turnovers (11-9), but were out-scored by Monmouth's bench, 22-11.
Fairleigh Dickinson swept the series with Monmouth, winning in W. Long Branch, NJ on Dec. 8, 71-67.
The Knights will host Saint Francis PA on Jan. 22 at 7:00 p.m.
