The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team fell in a double-overtime battle, 91-88, at the Wellness Center in Brooklyn, NY. The Knights fall to 4-16 on the season, with a 4-6 mark in Northeast Conference play, while the Blackbirds improve to 10-10 with a 6-3 record in league action.
Sean Baptise led FDU with his first double-double of the season with 34 points and 10 rebounds. It was his fourth 30-point performance of the season and seventh game this season with 20 points or more. Alvin Mofuanya led the Knights on the boards with 11 rebounds, adding nine points and six blocks. Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Notre Dame Prep (MA)) had 22 points and Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) added 10 points.
The game opened with an 11-2 Long Island lead over the first three and a half minutes of play, but jumpers from Mofunanya and Tyler made it a five-point game, 13-8, with 15 minutes remaining in the half.
Long Island's lead was cut to 15-10 on a put-back from Tyler, and the Knights poured in six-straight points to tie the game. Mofunanya drove down the middle for a bucket, Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) rebounded his own shot for a put- back and Mofunanya fed John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) to knot the score at 16-16 with just under nine minutes remaining.
The Blackbirds staged a 9-2 run to pull ahead and take a 25-18 lead, but Baptiste scored seven-straight, sparked by a steal that he took down to the other side and dunked. Grier's steal on the next possession led to a pair of free throws from the line, and Baptiste, fouled behind the arc, connected on the next three shots, cutting the Blackbirds' lead to 27-25.
Another steal from Baptiste led to a fast break bucket for Grier, cutting the game to 33-29 with 2:15 left in the first half. Ron Manigault's free throws with 1:06 on the clock sent Long Island into the break ahead by seven, 37-30.
Tyler and Baptiste led the Knights in the first half with seven points each, while David Hicks led all scorers with 11 points. FDU led the Blackbirds in points in the paint (22-18) and points off of turnovers (13-7), but Long Island held the advantage in second-chance points (10-6) and offensive rebounds, 10-3. The Blackbirds held a slight advantage in shooting percentage, 44-41 percent, and a large lead on the boards, 25-12.
Baptiste opened the second-half scoring the Knights' first six points, starting with an old-fashioned three-point play before sinking a long three-pointer. Tyler converted a three-point play of his own to make it 41-39. The Knights completed an 11-4 run over the first four and a half minutes of the second frame as Eric Moore (Dover, NJ/St. Benedict's)'s steal led to a put-back from Baptiste to knot the score, 41-41 with 15:25 left in regulation. Four of LIU's first six points of the second period came from the charity stripe.
Baptiste connected on a lay-up and FDU's defense forced a turnover, which resulted in a bucket and the point after for Galvin to make it a one-point deficit, 46-45. Baptiste connected on a trey to regain the lead for Fairleigh Dickinson, 49-46, with 11:37 left to play. Grier took a charge to return the ball to FDU and Tyler's three gave the Knights their largest lead, 52-46.
But Long Island stormed back with a quick 10-2 offensive spurt on the strength of six points from Kyle Johnson. A floater in the lane from Tyler cut LIU's advantage to 58-56 with just over five minutes left to play.
Julian Boyd connected on two from the line to give LIU a four-point lead, 60-56, and with a 64-59 Long Island edge, Baptiste had a big steal, but the Knights were unable to convert it into points on the board.
Grier used his first points of the second half on a clutch three-pointer that made it 66-64 with 40 seconds on the clock and Moore's lay-in with 31 seconds tied the game at 66. After Boyd made the first of his one-and-one, Mofunanya gave the rebound of the second shot to Tyler, who took it coast-to-coast with 18 seconds on the clock to give the Knights the one-point lead. Mofunanya sank his second free throw for a 69-67 edge with seven seconds on the clock, but Hicks threw up and off-balance jumper that bounced through the hoop as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime.
Baptiste laid in a bucket to start the scoring in the second half before he connected on one from the free throw line to give FDU a 72-69 lead. Moore fed Grier, who again connected on a big three-pointer, giving FDU a 75-69 advantage.
The Knights' defense held the Blackbirds scoreless for the first two minutes of the extra frame, with Johnson missing three from the line and Mofunanya grabbing the big rebound.
Boyd's dunk was followed by a steal and lay-up from Wisseh to cut the Knights' advantage down to two, 75-73. A steal from Boyd preceded another dunk, tying the game, but Baptiste continued on his hot streak, netting another shot from behind the arc. Johnson's three at the buzzer sent the game into a second overtime, 78-78.
Boyd started the second overtime period with a basket to give LIU the lead and Wisseh added a free throw for an 81-78 LIU lead, but Baptiste knocked down yet another trey to knot the game and keep the Knights in it. A lay-up from Manigault gave Long Island the 83-81 edge with three minutes remaining, but another three from Baptiste returned the lead to the Knights.
Wisseh put two more pairs of free throws in the basket to give LIU the 87-84 lead and Galvin connected on both of his shots from the line, but Wisseh again connected on two free throws. Tyler's layup with seven seconds on the clock made it a one-point game, but Wisseh's final two from the charity stripe gave the Blackbirds the 91-88 victory
The Knights out-shot the Blackbirds, 46 percent to 40 percent, but LIU dominated the boards, 55-35.
“It's one of those games that is a shame that someone had to lose,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “When you look at the stats, the two teams were evenly matched. We took the same number of shots, and we made four more shots and two more threes. But they made more free throws than we attempted, and that was the difference in the game. LIU is an aggressive team and it showed with 23 offensive rebounds. I'm not sure that I can ask the guys to play any harder than they did. They gave all they could, but we just came up a little short.”
The Knights host St. Francis NY on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7:00 p.m.; the second half of a doubleheader, after the FDU women face off against the Terriers at 4:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WFDU 89.1 by John Schmeelk and Frank DiLorenzo and can be found on www.wfdu.fm.
