The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team fell to visiting Saint Peter's, 83-68, on Saturday night at Stratis Arena.
Junior guard Mike Scott (Philadelphia, PA/Texas Christian) (Philadelphia, PA) led the Knights (1-11) with a season-high 21 points, shooting 7-for-11. Scott also dished out five assists and grabbed four steals. Junior guard Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) (Cranford, NJ) also netted a season-high, adding 18 points for the Knights and matched his season-high of six rebounds. Senior guard Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) (North Brunswick, NJ) grabbed six rebounds as well.
Ryan Bacon contributed six of the Peacocks' (5-5) first eight points of the game as they took a 15-5 lead over the first seven minutes of the game.
Grier converted an old-fashioned three-point play at the 12-minute mark to make it a seven-point game but Saint Peter's out-scored the Knights, 5-1, over the next three minutes to take a 20-9 lead over the Knights.
Baptiste grabbed a steal at half court and fed it to junior forward Kamil Svrdlik (Prerov, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Zlin) (Prerov, Czech Republic), who finished with seven points and five rebounds, for a bucket and Scott sank a pair from the line to bring the Knights within five (22-17) with just over five minutes left to play in the half.
A hook shot from Svrdlik followed by a three-pointer from Scott cut it down to a one-point game, 25-24, capping a 13-3 run for the Knights, with 2:22 left to play in the first period.
Wesley Jenkins hit a three pointer to make the score 32-26 in favor of St. Peter's heading into the break. Bacon led the Peacocks with nine points in the first 20 minutes, while Scott led FDU with eight points. SPC held an edge on the boards, 16-12, and shot 55 percent to the Knights' 33 percent.
Scott came out of the break with a lay-up to make it 32-28 and the two teams traded baskets over the next six minutes. Scott sank a three-pointer three and a half minutes in to cut the lead to 41-37, but the Peacocks went on a 9-2 run to grab a double-digit lead.
Grier's block and rebound led to a fast break lay-up, bringing the gap back down, 50-42, but Saint Peter's scored six unanswered points to start an 8-1 run. The Knights answered with an 8-1 run of their own, capped by a jumper from freshman guard Louis Larizza (Port Chester, NY/Port Chester) (Port Chester, NY), to cut the Peacock's lead to six, 62-56.
But Saint Peter's out-scored the Knights, 14-5, over a four-minute span to grab hold of a 76-61 lead with less than two minutes to play.
"There is no question that we are making progress," said Head Coach Greg Vetrone. "We missed 19 free throws and that was the difference. But shooting that many free throws means that we are getting the ball into the right areas. We are getting good, high-percentage shots; we just have to knock them down. I couldn't ask for anything more effort-wise, I'm just sorry that it isn't translating into wins."
The Knights held a slight edge in points in the paint (20-18), fast break points (8-4) and points off turnovers (10-8), while the Peacocks held the advantage in rebounding, 36-30.
FDU bounced back to shoot 47 percent in the second half, finishing the game with 42 percent overall, but shot just 54 percent from the free throw line (22-41). For the first time this season, the Knights had fewer turnovers (13-17) than their opponent.
Bacon led five Peacocks in double-digits with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Leon added 18, Jenkins and Darius Conley each had 12 and Jeron Belin added 11 points.
The Knights are back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 23 when they host Iona at 7:00 p.m. in Stratis Arena at the Rothman Center.
