The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team fell at host Long Island, 68-62, on Thursday evening at the Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Mike Scott (Philadelphia, PA/Texas Christian) led the Knights (9-19, 8-7 Northeast Conference) with 19 points, while Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) added 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) recorded 12 points and Kamil Svrdlik (Prerov, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Zlin) added eight rebounds. Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow) recorded his fifth-straight double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Knights held the Blackbirds scoreless for the first five minutes of the game, but were unable to capitalize, as Baptiste scored FDU's only bucket during the stretch.
Long Island (11-15, 9-6 NEC) took a 9-6 lead, but Fairleigh Dickinson got back-to-back baskets from Scott and Baptiste to take the lead. LIU knotted the game, 17-17, on a lay-up from Kyle Johnson. Jaytornah Wisseh then gave the Blackbirds the lead with an old-fashioned three-point play. The play was part of a 14-0 run for LIU, giving them a 27-17 lead, as they held FDU scoreless for almost four and a half minutes.
FDU staged a 7-1 run to cut LIU's lead to 28-24 with less than a minute remaining, but Kenny Onyechi had a dunk with five seconds remaining to give Long Island a 30-24 edge heading into the break.
Wisseh led all scorers with 12 points, while Scott led the Knights with eight points. FDU was out-rebounded in the first 20 minutes, 22-20, but out-shot LIU (36.7-34.4 percent). Long Island shot 7-for-10 from the free throw line, while the Knights did not have a free throw in the first half.
Johnson had the Blackbirds' first six points of the half, but a three from Baptiste cut LIU's lead to five (36-31) three minutes into the second frame.
Fairleigh Dickinson regained its offensive form as Grier found Dockery under the basket and, after Mofunanya grabbed a defensive rebound, Scott found Grier to make it 46-43 with less than 12 minutes remaining in the game.
Scott hit a jumper to make it a one-point game, and the Knights took the lead, 48-46, on a Scott three-pointer after Baptiste grabbed the defensive rebound and sent it down the court. Over the first 10 minutes of the second half, Fairleigh Dickinson shot 69.2 percent from the floor.
The two teams traded baskets until the Blackbirds connected on three-straight three-pointers (two from Wisseh and one form Johnson) to grab hold of a 62-54 advantage with four minutes remaining.
Mofunanya's lay-in, capping five-straight from the Knights, with a minute on the clock made it a three-point game, 62-59, and after Wisseh sank a bucket and a free throw, Baptiste pulled up and drained a trey with 21 seconds on the clock. But David Hicks sank two free throws and Johnson connected on 1-of-2 to make the final 68-62.
LIU had 13 points off of turnovers in the second half and 13 second-chance points, while the Knights were unable to convert any turnovers into points and had only three second-chance points.
The Blackbirds held a 43-36 edge on the boards, but the Knights held an advantage in shooting percentage (.463-.343) after shot 58.3 percent in the final 20 minutes (14-24).
The Knights shot 37.5 percent from three-point range, while holding LIU to 26.3 percent from behind the arc. Fairleigh Dickinson made 6-of-8 from the free throw line, while Long Island was 17-for-28.
"They had 19 offensive rebounds and we had 17 turnovers," said Head Coach Greg Vetrone. "Those are the two biggest stats- you can't win games with numbers like that. We shot better in the second half, but we need to make more of every possession and get offensive rebounds to create second chances."
Wisseh led the Blackbirds with 27 points, while Johnson had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The Knights are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 4:30 p.m. at St. Francis NY.
