The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team opened the home season in Stratis Arena against Central Michigan on Saturday evening in front of a crowd of almost 1,000. FDU improves to 1-2 for the season, while the Chippewas fall to 2-2 overall.
Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow) scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Knights, just missing a double-double with nine rebounds. He also matched his career-high with six blocks. Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) recorded 18 points; Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) added 13 points and Mike Scott (Philadelphia, PA/Texas Christian) led the team on the boards with 10 rebounds.
The Knights took the lead six minutes into the game and never relinquished it. Grier had five of the Knights' first nine points as FDU took a 9-7 lead. The Chippewas tied it up, but Mofunanya sank a long two to regain the lead for the Knights, before DeJuan Pursley (Leonia, NJ/Leonia) grabbed an offensive rebound on the next trip down and dished it out to Baptiste for a three, giving FDU a 14-9 edge.
FDU staged an 11-2 run over five minutes to take a 20-11 lead at the 10:21 mark. The Knights pushed the gap to double-digits, 24-14, on a trey from Anaclet Mulumba (Montreal, Canada/Vanier College) with eight minutes remaining in the half. CMU went on a run of its own, scoring five unanswered points (three from the line) to make it 25-21.
But FDU pushed it back up to a double-digit lead, 33-21, on Mofunanya's bucket. The Knights capped a 10-0 run with two free throws from Grier to take their largest lead of the half, 35-21, with less than a minute until the break. With one second on the clock, Central Michigan's Jordan Bitzer put in a jumper, sending the Knights into the locker room with a 35-23 lead.
The Knights were led in the first 20 minutes by Mofunanya's 14 points along with 10 from Grier. Scott led the Knights on the boards with seven rebounds; FDU held a slight 17-16 edge. In the first period, FDU held 16-4 advantage in points off turnovers. The Knights sank four from behind the arc, while holding Central Michigan to only one three-pointer.
A three from Grier put the Knights ahead, 40-27, three and a half minutes into the second half, but Robbie Harman sank a three to cut the Knights' lead to 45-40, capping a 13-5 run.
Fairleigh Dickinson's five-straight points pushed the lead back up to double-digits with 4:21 remaining in regulation
Mofunanya sank two free throws before Baptiste grabbed a steal and was fouled on the fast break play. He connected on his shots from the stripe as well, but Bitzer sank a three from the corner with less than two minutes remaining to make it 54-45.
Baptiste had a tip-in, followed by two free throws from Scott to give the Knights a comfortable 58-45 edge with a minute remaining.
Harman led four Chippewas in double-digits with 13 points. Chris Kellermann and Bitzer each had 12 and Marko Spica added 11.
"It was great to get the first win of the season under our belts," said Head Coach Greg Vetrone after his first career win. "It was great to come home and play in front of a good crowd after being on the road for the first two games. What Alvin, Terence and Mike did from a defensive perspective was incredible. We were able to hold the two leading scorers on their squad. This was a team effort and a great win. It makes the trip to Kentucky much easier tomorrow."
The Knights, who had two players out due to illness, are back in action on Monday, Nov. 23 when they play in Richmond, KY for the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic, hosted by Eastern Kentucky, who Fairleigh Dickinson will match up against on Monday. FDU will faceTexas San Antonio on Tuesday and UC-Irvine on Wednesday.
