The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team staged a 19-point comeback to defeat host Sacred Heart in overtime, 64-59, on Thursday evening in Fairfield, CT. The Knights (11-19, 10-7 Northeast Conference) staged a 19-point comeback after a sluggish first half, repeating the feat from earlier in the season (Jan. 2), when they defeated the Pioneers (13-15, 6-11 NEC) after being down 22 points.
Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow) recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 15 points and 15 rebounds and Mike Scott (Philadelphia, PA/Texas Christian) led the team with 16 points. Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) added 10 points. Kamil Svrdlik (Prerov, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Zlin) pulled down nine rebounds, adding six points and John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) came off the bench to give the Knights seven points and eight rebounds.
The Pioneers took a 14-4 lead over the first 11 minutes of the game with five points coming from Chauncey Hardy. The Knights were cold offensively at the start of the game, making just one of their first 20 shots.
Despite the slow start, a lob from Scott to Mofunanya for a dunk followed by a hook shot from Galvin after a steal by Grier made it 18-12 with just under five minutes remaining in the half. But the Pioneers quickly scored six unanswered points to take a 24-12 lead with a minute left in the first frame.
Louis Larizza (Port Chester, NY/Port Chester) sank a three on one end with four seconds remaining, but Hardy closed out the half with a bucket to send the two teams into the half with a 26-17 Pioneer lead.
Mofunanya led the Knights in the first half with six points, two blocks and seven rebounds. Sacred Heart out-shot the Knights in the first half, 35 percent-15 percent, holding FDU to five field goals, and out-scored FDU in the paint, 14-8.
Sacred Heart started the second half on an 8-0 run to take a 34-17 run. The Pioneers extended the spurt to out-score the Knights 12-3 over the first four and a half minutes.
Galvin and DeShawn Dockery (Chicago, IL/Worcester Academy) had back-to-back baskets to cut the Pioneers' advantage to 38-24, but Sacred Heart reeled off five-straight.
Galvin's steal led to a fast break lay-up by Grier and the Knights were able to cut the SHU lead to 49-38 on a jumper by Mofunanya.
A three-point play by Mofunanya with 4:44 on the clock made it a 51-41 game and two free throws from Scott cut the Pioneers' lead to single-digits, 51-43, before Svrdlik sank two from the stripe as well for a six-point deficit.
After Scott grabbed a rebound, he drove to the basket for two points, making it 51-47 with a little more than two minutes left to play. Grier's lay-in off Mofunanya's defensive rebound made it 52-49, and Scott pulled up and drained a three-pointer to tie up the score with less than a minute to play.
Sacred Heart missed three free throws in the final 2:21 of regulation and Nick Greenbacker tried to give the Pioneers the win with a lay-up with 40 seconds on the clock, but Grier grabbed the rebound.
At the end of regulation, the Knights had a chance for the win, but the ball rolled out of the rim to send the game into overtime. The three-pointer by Scott with 58 seconds left capped a 25-7 run by Fairleigh Dickinson over the final 10 minutes of the half.
FDU shot 46 percent in the second frame, while holding the Pioneers to 29.6 percent in the second half.
The Knights took their first lead of the game, 54-52, three seconds into overtime on Scott's two free throws. After a big defensive rebound by Grier, Mofunanya's dunk put the Knights up by four.
Hardy connected on two free throws and Corey Hassan's three gave the Pioneers the lead again, 57-56, but Svrdlik grabbed his own rebound and put it to regain the lead for the Knights and they wouldn't relinquish it for the remainder of the game.
Mofunanya scored for the 60-57 lead by FDU with a minute left to play. Sacred Heart got the ball with less than a minute remaining, but Grier again grabbed a big defensive rebound and sank both shots from the line. He connected on 4-of-4 in the final 20 seconds to help seal the win for the Knights. He finished the game shooting 6-for-7 from the line.
"They stayed together and played defense," said Head Coach Greg Vetrone. "Alvin [Mofunanya], Mike [Scott] and Terence [Grier] played phenomenal down the stretch. Our bench was incredible - Louie [Larizza], Sam [Fernley] and DeJuan [Pursley]- they came in and really helped us out tonight. It wasn't pretty, but I'd rather be on the winning side of a game like that."
Fairleigh Dickinson shot 43 percent in the final five minutes, holding Sacred Heart to 16.7 percent. FDU out-scored Sacred Heart, 35-26, in the second half and 12-7 in the overtime period. FDU closed out the game with a 34-24 advantage in points in the paint. The Knights connected on 19-for-26 from the free throw line (73 percent), while the Pioneers shot just 52 percent.
Fairleigh Dickinson closes out the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 27 when they host Quinnipiac at 7:35 p.m. The three seniors- Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen), Lawrence Brown (Portsmouth, England/Millersburg Military Inst.) and Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow)- will be honored in a ceremony prior to tip-off. The Knights will compete in the first round of the Northeast Conference Tournament on Thursday, March 4 against an opponent yet to be determined.
