The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team dropped a 73-57 decision against Lafayette on Wednesday evening at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, PA. The Knights fall to 1-9 on the season, while the Leopards improve to 5-5.
Junior forward Kamil Svrdlik (Prerov, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Zlin) and junior guard Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) led Fairleigh Dickinson with 13 points each, while junior guard Mike Scott (Philadelphia, PA/Texas Christian) chipped in 10 points. Senior guard Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) led the Knights with nine rebounds.
The Knights had three offensive rebounds on their first possession and were able to score the first five points of the game.
Lafayette answered with back-to-back three pointers, but the Knights took a 9-6 lead over the first six and a half minutes on a dunk by Grier. Scott pulled up and drained a three-pointer with four seconds on the shot clock to give FDU a 14-10 lead.
After Scott sank a jumper to give the Knights a 16-12 edge, the Leopards scored five unanswered points to take the lead.
A 19-5 run by Lafayette over the final nine and half minutes of the first period gave the Leopards a 31-21 lead at the half. The Knights were led by Grier, who had seven points, while Jim Mower had a team-high 15 points for the Leopards, going 6-for-9, including a trio from behind the arc. Baptiste led FDU with five rebounds as the Knights held a slight edge on the boards, 16-15.
Lafayette scored the first 10 points of the second half, holding the Knights scoreless for the first two minutes and 20 seconds of the half, to take a 41-21 advantage.
Svrdlik and Grier had back-to-back baskets and Baptiste sank a jumper to cut down Lafayette's lead, but the Leopards reeled off five-straight. The Knights went on a 10-1 run, with four points coming from Grier, to cut down Lafayette's advantage to 12 (49-37) with 11:32 remaining.
But an 11-1 run by the Leopards gave them a 60-38 edge with less than nine minutes to play. Scott sank both of his shots from the line to cut the game down to 62-45, but Tony Johnson connected on two free throws to match Lafayette's largest lead, 73-50 with 4:27 left.
The Knights scored the final seven points of the game to make the final, 73-57. In the second half, the two teams were matched in the paint, 14-14, and on the boards, 40-40. The Knights held the advantage in points off turnovers (6-4) and second-chance points (8-4).
"We need to work on executing our offense better in the next couple of weeks," said Head Coach Greg Vetrone. "To turn this around, we need to focus on putting points on the board."
Mower had a game-high 23 points to lead Lafayette, shooting 10-of-16 from the floor. Ryan Willen added 18 points.
The Knights are back in action at Missouri on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 7:00 p.m. The game will be televised live on ESPN360.
