The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team dropped its sixth-straight game Thursday night as Sacred Heart dealt the Knights their first NEC loss of the season, 67-50, at Stratis Arena in Hackensack. The visitors closed the game on a 29-7 run over the final seven minutes. With the victory the Pioneers improve to 6-8 (1-2 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 3-9 (2-1 NEC) overall.
Senior Kamil Svrdlik (Prerov, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Zlin) (Prerov, Czech Republic) paced the Knights with 13 points. Seniors John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) (Weston, CT) and Mike Scott (Philadelphia, PA/Texas Christian) (Philadelphia, PA) each added nine, while junior Nate Gibbs (Dallas, TX/DeSoto) (Dallas, TX) and Galvin grabbed nine and eight rebounds, respectively.
Gibbs' putback put the Knights up, 43-38, with 7:31 to go in the game. With the Knights clinging to a 45-43 advantage, a Sacred Heart three-point play put the Pioneers up 46-45 with 5:18 left and would never relinquish the game.
Down 10-9 in the first half, freshman Tyler Reynolds (Eugene, OR/Sheldon)' (Eugene, OR) three from the left corner triggered a 14-2 run to give the Knights a 23-12 lead with 6:08 to remaining in the half. However, the Pioneers were able to battle back and cut the lead to five at 28-23 heading into halftime.
Galvin paced the Knights with nine points and five rebounds over the first 20 minutes.
Sacred Heart outscored FDU, 9-3, over the first six minutes of the second half to regain the lead, 32-31. The Knights then responded with six straight points to go back up 37-32 and were able to hold the lead until the Pioneers took off to cruise to the victory. The visitors outscored the Knights, 44-22, in the second half.
FDU struggled from the field as they shot only 30.6 percent, including 1-of-16 from behind-the-arc. The Knights did out-rebound the Pioneers, 38-32.
Sacred Heart shot 42.3 percent from the floor. Jerrell Thompson led all scorers with 18 points. Evan Kelley added 14 points, while Chris Evans chipped in 13.
The Knights have a quick turnaround by taking on NEC preseason-favorite Quinnipiac Saturday afternoon at Stratis Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in Hackensack.
