In a game televised live on MSG the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team used some big numbers to defeat host Central Connecticut, 80-73, in front of a crowd of 1,786 at Detrick Gymnasium in New Britain, CT. With the win, the Knights improve to 7-18 on the season, including a 6-8 mark in Northeast Conference action, while the Blue Devils fall to 11-13 overall, with a 7-7 record in league play.
Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) scored the 1000th point of his career, finishing the game with 17 points (1,001). John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) sank a career-high 22 points, connecting on 10-of-12 from the floor, recording his first double-double with 13 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive end. Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Notre Dame Prep (MA)) led the team with 23 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out eight assists while only turning the ball over once each half.
The Knights took an 8-5 lead three minutes into the game on a drive to the hoop from Tyler.
Central tied the game, 10-10, on an old-fashioned three-point play by Tamir Johnson, but the Knights pulled ahead to a 24-17 lead after staging a 9-2 run on the strength of seven unanswered points, started by Tyler's bucket, along with the point after, and Galvin's back-to-back baskets.
The Blue Devils staged a 7-0 spurt of their own to knot the game again, 24-24, but FDU scored the next six points, with four coming from Tyler, to regain possession of the lead.
After holding Central Conn. scoreless for three minutes, the Knights were able to take a 35-28 lead on Galvin's lay-up. Fairleigh Dickinson extended its lead to double-digits, 46-36, on a lay-in from Baptiste, with just over one minute remaining in the first frame.
The Knights, who entered the break with a 46-38 lead, out-rebounded the Blue Devils in the first half, 27-19 (12-5 in offensive boards). Both teams shot 44 percent. Tyler and Galvin led all scorers in the first 20 minutes with 14 points apiece. Tyler dished out six assists, while Galvin, who matched his previous season high in points in the first half, led the Knights on the boards with eight rebounds.
The Blue Devils were able to cut the Knights' lead down to six, 54-48, with 13 minutes remaining in regulation and continued to gain ground as they cut the FDU lead further, 61-59, on a jumper from Hall with less than seven minutes to play.
The Blue Devils made it a one-point game before taking their first lead, 63-62, since it was 3-2 at 18:39, but Baptiste connected on a pair from the line to return the lead to Fairleigh Dickinson.
Tyler sank a three with just under three minutes remaining and Baptiste converted his steal into a basket before sinking the free throw after. Central Connecticut's full-court pressure left Galvin all alone under the basket, where Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow) found him to give the Knights a 72-65 advantage with 1:35 on the clock.
Robby Ptacek netted a jumper to make it a four-point game, 74-70, with 34 seconds remaining, but a huge steal from Tyler took him to the charity stripe, where he made 1-of-2. Mofunanya then calmly sank both of his free throws with 15 seconds on the clock, putting FDU ahead, 77-70.
After Shemik Thompson hit a trey with five seconds remaining, Baptiste connected on his first free throw to make his career total 999 points. After missing the second, he grabbed the ball from a defender in front of the FDU bench and laid it in to finish the game on a high note and give the Knights the 80-73 victory.
The Knights are now 3-0 in their televised games and 5-0 when they lead at the half. FDU out-scored Central in the paint, 56-36. Fairleigh Dickinson controlled the boards, out-rebounding the Blue Devils 43-31, its largest margin this season. FDU shot 46 percent, while Central Conn. connected on 49 percent from the floor.
“I'm really happy about the win,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “Considering that both Alvin and Kamil [Svrdlik] were in foul trouble, John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) really came up huge for us tonight. I thought that Cameron had an excellent floor game and Sean gave us a good outing.”
“Two things on the stat sheet stand out-- that we only had nine turnovers and that we had 20 offensive rebounds. The fact that we out-rebounded them by 12 was huge- we were working on blocking out in practice and it obviously carried over. Every game at this point of the season is important in the standings, so this is a good road win.”
The game will be aired again on MSG on Feb. 13 at 1:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. A 60-minute rewind of the game will be shown at 3:00 p.m. and again at 4:00 p.m.
The Knights are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 14 when they play at St. Francis NY.
