Despite four Knights scoring in double-digits and the team shooting over 52 percent, the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team fell, 80-73, to host Robert Morris at the Sewell Center on Thursday evening. The Knights drop to 4-13 on the season, including a 3-2 mark in Northeast Conference play, while the Colonials improve to 9-8 overall and 4-1 in league action. The two teams were evenly matched heading into halftime, 31-31, and the second half was a tightly contested battle until the final three minutes, when Robert Morris pulled ahead for the win.
Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow) led the Knights with a game-high 22 points, matching his career-high. Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) added 18 points, five rebounds and four steals. Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) had 17 points, going 8-for-12 from the floor, while Mike Scott (Philadelphia, PA/Texas Christian) had 11 points and a game-high six rebounds, along with five assists.
The Colonials started the game with a 10-2 run, and RMU's first 12 points came from six different players. The Knights made it a five-point game, on a trey from Baptiste, but the Colonials had an 11-5 offensive spurt for a double-digit lead, 21-10, on three-straight free throws (two from Gary Wallace and one from Rob Robinson).
The Knights staged a run as Scott drove in for a lay-up to start things off. DeShawn Dockery (Chicago, IL/Worcester Academy) stole the ball and fed it to Grier before picking the Colonials' pocket again on the next possession, repeating the play as he dished it out to Grier for another bucket, making it a 21-18 game with six minutes remaining in the first half.
But the Colonials reeled off seven unanswered points to reclaim the double-digit edge, 28-18. FDU responded as Baptiste connected on a pair from the line before sinking a three from the corner. Grier stole an inbounds pass and put it in the hoop, making it a three-point game, 28-25, with just under three minutes remaining.
DeJuan Pursley (Leonia, NJ/Leonia) grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in to cut RMU's lead to one point and the Knights took their first lead of the game on a bucket from Mofunanya, in the final minute of play.
Russell Johnson's three gave Robert Morris back the lead, but Grier scored with 3.5 seconds on the clock to send the game into the break tied, 31-31. Baptiste led the Knights in the first 20 minutes with 11 points, including two three-pointers and a 5-of-6 effort from the free throw line, while Grier added 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting. Scott led FDU on the boards with four rebounds. The Knights shot 50 percent in the first half, while the Colonials shot 54 percent.
Robinson started off the second half with back-to-back baskets, but Grier's three-pointer followed by a free throw from Mofunanya knotted the game at 35-35. Over the first 14 minutes of the second half, the game had three ties and six lead changes.
A dunk from Mofunanya at the 14:22 mark capped an 8-2 run by the Knights that gave them the 43-42 advantage. With 13 minutes left to play, Scott fed Mofunanya for a dunk that gave FDU the 45-44 lead. Robert Morris was able to grab hold of a 49-45, but Fairleigh Dickinson came back to cut the gap, 50-49, with nine and a half minutes remaining.
Two free throws from Mofunanya gave FDU the 56-55 lead, but Robert Morris staged a 8-1 run to take a 63-57 lead on five-straight points from Karon Abraham with four minutes left in the game.
A three-point play by Velton Jones with 3:05 on the clock gave Robert Morris a 66-59 advantage as the Knights were held without a field goal for nine minutes, making 13 free throws.
Abraham led the Colonials with 20 points, all coming in the final 20 minutes of play. Robinson added 15, Jones had 12 and Johnson finished with 10 points. The Colonials out-rebounded the Knights, 31-21 and shot 55 percent from the floor.
"If you look at the stat sheet, it was an evenly played game," said Head Coach Greg Vetrone. "It comes down to who is going to make the game-winning plays. Any time it got close, they found a way to make a big play."
"They went up 10 early and we came back to tie it up at half time, which shows that our team is growing," said Vetrone. "I'm proud of them. This game wasn't about who was executing, it was about who was mentally tough. They were manhandling us in the beginning and I told the team that we were not going to back down and they didn't."
The Knights are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 16 when they play at Saint Francis PA in Loretto, PA at 7:00 p.m.
