After being down as many as 16 in the first half, the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team fought back to defeat Saint Francis University (PA) on Saturday evening, 78-75, at Stratis Arena. The Knights improve to 5-15 this season, including an even 4-4 mark in Northeast Conference action, while the Red Flash fall to 5-14 overall with a 3-5 record in league play.
Michael Scott (Philadelphia, PA) led the Knights with 20 points, just missing a double-double with nine assists. Scott also pulled down six rebounds and had two steals. Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) (North Brunswick, NJ) had 19 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) (Cranford, NJ) added 15 points and Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow) (Englewood, NJ) chipped in 12 points. In all four of the Knights' conference wins, four players have scored in double-digits.
Scott knotted the game with a long two, 9-9, six minutes into the game as the two teams traded baskets until the Red Flash scored six unanswered points for the 15-9 edge.
Baptiste's three from the corner out of an FDU timeout cut Saint Francis' lead to five, 19-14 but the Red Flash responded with an 11-0 run. Grier broke the scoring draught with a drive to the basket and on the next possession, the Knights forced an SFU turnover, which resulted in an old-fashioned three-point play by Kamil Svrdlik (Prerov, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Zlin) (Prerov, Czech Republic). Svrdlik finished the game with seven points.
Grier and Scott had back-to-back lay-ups to cut the Red Flash lead to 30-24 with five and a half minutes remaining until the break.
Two blocks on the defensive end by John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) (Weston, CT), who finished with five points and five rebounds, led to a fast break basket by Grier. A steal by Baptiste sent him to the free throw line, where he put in one of two to make it a 32-27 game.
Scott was sent to the line in a one-and-one situation, sinking both free throws to trim the SFU advantage to three points, 32-29 with four minutes on the clock. Scott drew the foul on the defensive end and found Baptiste in the corner for another three to make it a one-point game, 35-34, with 2:32 left.
Saint Francis took a 42-36 lead into the half, led by Cedric Latimer's nine points. The Red Flash held a 20-16 edge on the boards, but the Knights out-shot SFU, 50-44 percent. Baptiste led Fairleigh Dickinson in the first 20 minutes with 10 points on a trio of three-pointers.
A three from the top of the arc by Scott put FDU within one, 46-45, three minutes into the second half. After the Red Flash pulled ahead again, a dish from DeShawn Dockery (Chicago, IL/Worcester Academy) (Chicago, IL) to Grier cut Saint Francis' lead to 54-51.
The Knights used a 20-3 run over nine minutes to take control of the game, on the strength of eight points from Grier, six from Baptiste and four from Galvin.
The Knights tied it up on a put-back from Galvin, 56-56, with 12 minutes left to play. FDU took the lead as a great pass from Scott found Galvin under the basket for two. Scott's shot from just inside the arc before a steal by Grier led to a trey from Baptiste gave the Knights a 63-57 advantage with eight minutes left.
On a put-back from Grier, the Knights grabbed a 65-57 edge. Sorena Orandi had a three-pointer and Will Felder connected on two from the line to cut FDU's lead to 67-64 with less than four minutes to play. But with just over a minute remaining, Mofunanya's dunk and a pair from the line by Scott returned the eight-point lead to Fairleigh Dickinson, 74-66.
Devin Sweetney's three-pointer made from the corner in front of the visitor's bench cut it to a one-point game with 25 seconds remaining, 74-73, but Scott sank two from the line to add a cushion. Felder hit a jumper with six seconds on the clock, making it 76-75, but Scott made both of his free throws for the 78-75 final.
The Knights out-scored Saint Francis in the second half in points off turnovers, 13-5, and second-chance points, 11-4.
Overall, Saint Francis held a slight edge on the boards, 36-34, while FDU held the edge in shooting percentage (.519-.419). The two teams met last Saturday, with the Red Flash taking a 54-52 win on a pair of free throws with one second on the clock. The Knights now hold a 40-34 edge in the all-time series against SFU.
"This team showed moxie," said Head Coach Greg Vetrone. "We never gave up, we battled and came back. I wish that we were able to make more free throws down the stretch, but we never quit."
"Sean bounced back from a couple of down games to have 19 points, and Mike's stats are great- 20 points, nine assists and six rebounds. John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) deserves credit for playing a fantastic 15 minutes. We were up eight with a minute remaining, and I wish we had held on to that lead, but the end result is what matters and I'm excited about the win."
The Knights are back in action at Bryant on Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
