The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball defeated intrastate rival Monmouth, 75-69, on Thursday night at Stratis Arena in the Rothman Center. The Knights shot 58.6 percent from the floor in the first half and finished the game shooting 53 percent.

Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) led Fairleigh Dickinson (7-16, 6-5 Northeast Conference) with 27 points, going 11-for-16 from the floor, while grabbing 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow) led the Knights on the boards with 11 rebounds. Mike Scott (Philadelphia, PA/Texas Christian) had 20 points, his fourth of the season. He went 7-for-7 from the line, with five assists and two turnovers.

Whitney Coleman and Ed Waite sank back-to-back lay-ups for Monmouth (10-13, 6-5 NEC) to knot the game, 15-15, at the 10:40 mark of the first half. But the Knights scored 11-straight points to pull ahead and grab a double-digit lead.

FDU stayed hot, continuing the offensive pressure as they used a14-5 run, capped by a three-pointer from Baptiste, to grab their largest lead of the half, 40-22, with a minute and a half remaining in the first frame.

Baptiste led the Knights in the first half with 17 points, while Mofunanya pulled down a team-high six rebounds. The Knights shot 58.6 percent and held the Hawks to 24 percent. FDU also held a 21-16 advantage in rebounding and out-scored Monmouth in the paint, 18-4.

Kamil Svrdlik (Prerov, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Zlin) converted a three-point play as the Knights took a 45-25 lead a minute into the second half.

FDU scored five unanswered points to grab a 47-25 advantage, its largest of the game. But Monmouth went on a 13-2 run to trim the Knights' lead, making it a 51-45 game with under 11 minutes to play.

The Knights pushed it back up to a double-digit lead on a lay-up from Baptiste, 59-49 with eight minutes remaining, but the Hawks reeled off five-straight points to cut the gap.

The two teams traded baskets until Scott converted an old-fashioned three-point play, 62-54 with five minutes left in the game.

With 1:27 to play, Baptiste's basket gave the Knights a 68-59 edge; after James Hett connected on a lay-up, DeShawn Dockery (Chicago, IL/Worcester Academy) put in a lay-up, which was followed by two free throws from Baptiste with under a minute to play for a 72-61 edge.

The Hawks, down nine, with 40 seconds remaining in the game forced a turnover and received the ball under their basket, but Mofunanya grabbed a big defensive rebound and sank one-of-two from the line on the other end.

Scott put in both of his free throws with 19 seconds on the clock to give the Knights a 12-point lead (75-63), but Coleman and Hett hit back-to-back three-pointers to make the final 75-69.

The Fairleigh Dickinson women's team lost in the first game of the doubleheader, 68-63; the Garden State Rivalry Series is tied, 1-1. The series is decided by the outcome of all four games (two men's basketball, two women's basketball) this season and the winner will receive the Governor Codey Cup, presented by Governor Codey on Saturday, Feb. 6. This is the third year of the Garden State Rivalry Series, with the Knights winning the first two years.

"We hung in there," said Head Coach Greg Vetrone. "Sean had a great game, Mike being 7-for-7 from the line with five assists was a big help. Alvin wasn't connecting on his shots, but he had 11 rebounds and Kamil gave us a huge boost off the bench."

"In the second half, Monmouth made a few adjustments and Sean didn't get as many looks," said Vetrone. "Defensively, there were stages where we were good and then points where we were not doing as well. There was a stretch in the second half where we weren't getting good looks and we weren't getting good shots and that hurt us. We have to learn how to play with a lead. Usually we are in situations where we are down, fighting back. We have to learn how to win when we are up."

"We are getting better. We finished out the game when we could've easily let it slip away. I think that I was more nervous than they were. Coming out of the timeouts, they knew that they were going to win."

Monmouth held a slight edge on the boards, 39-38, and shot 34 percent for the game.

The Knights will face off in a rematch against Monmouth on Saturday in a game televised live on MSG at noon.