The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team staged a thrilling 72-68 win against visiting Quinnipiac at the Stratis Arena on Saturday evening to improve to 2-1 in the Northeast Conference and 2-10 overall. The Bobcats fall to 6-7 overall, including a 2-1 mark in league action.
Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) (North Brunswick, NJ) led the all scorers with a career-high 37 points, shooting 12-of-18 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from three-point range, while connecting on 9-of-9 from the charity stripe. He also led the Knights on the boards with eight rebounds. Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Notre Dame Prep (MA)) (Jamaica, NY) chipped in 21 points and nine assists, and John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) (Weston, CT) grabbed seven rebounds and swatted three shots.
A three-point play by Tyler at 16:20 knotted the game, 7-7. Quinnipiac went on an 8-2 run, but a jumper from Galvin made it 15-11 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the first half.
Eric Moore (Dover, NJ/St. Benedict's) (Dover, NJ) fed Baptiste behind the arc to cut Quinnipiac's lead to five, 23-28 and Baptiste took off, staging a 10-2 run on his own. Sinking back-to-back treys, both from Tyler, and then connecting on 4-of-4 from the line, Baptiste was able to tie up the game for the fourth time in the half, 28-28, with 6:33 on the clock.
FDU took a 33-32 lead on a three from Tyler, but QU staged an 8-2 run , capped by a layup from James Feldeine for a 40-35 edge with 2:35 left to play in the first half.
With 1:39 remaining, a jumper by Baptiste made it a two-point game, 42-40, and the Bobcats went into the half with a 44-40 lead.
Baptiste's sharp-shooting first half led all scorers with 20 points, connecting on 6-of-9 from the floor, including 3-for-4 from three-point range. Tyler added 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting and dished out five assists.
The Knights out-shot the Bobcats, 54 - 51 percent in the first 20 minutes. FDU shot 57 percent from behind the arc, while holding QU to 20 percent.
Baptiste came out on fire again for the second half, scoring 12 of the Knights first 13 points to push FDU ahead to grab the lead, 53-48.
Fairleigh Dickinson held Quinnipiac scoreless for more than six and half minutes, scoring 12 unanswered points to take its first double-digit lead of the game. Over the first eight minutes of the second half, the Knights out-scored Quinnipiac, 18-4, to grab hold of a 58-48 lead.
The Bobcats responded with five-straight points to cut the Knights' lead to five, before extending their run to 12-4 to make it a two-point game, 62-60, with 4:22 left to play.
Baptiste answered with his first three of the second half at the 3:52 mark to give FDU the 65-60 edge. James Johnson and Feldeine each made a pair from the line to make it a 67-66 game with 1:13 remaining.
After Tyler was fouled with 19 seconds on the clock and FDU in the lead by only one point, he made the second shot before grabbing a steal on the other end. He then calmly sank both of his free throws for a 70-66 Fairleigh Dickinson advantage with 10 seconds remaining.
Johnson netted a bucket for the Bobcats under the basket with four seconds on the clock, but Baptiste finished the night with two more free throws with only three seconds on the clock to give the Knights the 72-68 win.
Baptiste's previous career-high was 33 points at Sacred Heart last season (1/17/08). His 12 field goals are also a career-high.
Justin Rutty had a double-double for the Bobcats, scoring 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
“We have been emphasizing trying to push the ball and run at every opportunity,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “We showed some of our ability to run against Rhode Island and it really came to fruition tonight. We changed the offensive scheme a couple of games ago and the team is putting it into effect.”
“Sean has found his shot and he has a great ability to mix it up and drive to the basket. I think that Cameron also played well, giving out nine assists,” said Green. “The biggest negative that I saw was Quinnipiac having 22 offensive rebounds. We need to box out more.”
The Knights are back in action on Jan. 5 at 8:00 p.m. when they host Wagner at the Stratis Arena. The game is the second in a doubleheader that begins with the women's game at 5:30 p.m.
