The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team was defeated Saturday night by Albany, 72-46, at Stratis Arena in Hackensack. The Knights led early at 11-9, but Albany responded 8-0 run to take a 17-11 lead and would eventually go up 10 in the first half. Senior Mike Scott (Philadelphia, PA) scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Knights on offense. The Great Dane pick up their first victory of the season to improve to 1-3, while the Knights fall to 0-2 overall.
Early on, junior Briahn Smith (Detroit, MI/Madison) (Detroit, MI) knocked down a three, and Scott added two more treys to give the Knights an 11-6 advantage.
After the Great Dane's run, the Knights were able to stay within striking distance to keep the lead within one. With Albany up 25-24, the visitors went on to outscore the Knights 13-4 over the final 6:56 of the first half to go into the locker room up 38-28 at the break.
Albany was on fire in the first half has they shot 55.6 percent from the field and knocked down 6-of-13 from behind-the-arc. They also out-rebounded the Knights, 19-16. Each team committed five turnovers. The Knights shot 33.3 percent from the field and only 28.6 percent from three-point range.
Coming out of halftime, the Knights scored the first six points as freshman Mathias Seilund (Dragoer, Denmark/Falkonergaardens Gymnasium) (Dragoer, Denmark) scored two baskets to cut the lead to 38-34 and forcing a Great Dane 30-second timeout. Out of the timeout, Albany scored the next eight points to go up 48-36 with 12:04 to go in the game.
Albany outscored the Knights, 24-10, the rest of the way to cruise to the easy victory.
The Great Dane finished the game shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 9-for-20 from long distance. The Knights shot a dismal 29.1 percent and went 4-for24 from three-point range.
Albany dominated the glass, outrebounding the Knights, 46-29. Each team committed 11 turnovers.
Scott's 23 points led the Knights. Senior Kamil Svrdlik (Prerov, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Zlin) (Prerov, Chech Republic) led the squad with seven rebounds.
"Albany played harder, executed better and took us out of everything we wanted to do," said Head Coach Greg Vetrone. "I give them all the credit in the world."
The Knights return to action next Saturday, Nov. 27, when they travel to Raleigh, NC to take on the Wolfpack of North Carolina State. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and will be broadcasted on Fox Sports Net South.
