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Game Notes

The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team will open its 2011-12 campaign with a Saturday afternoon matinee at Providence.  Tip-off is slated for 2:00 p.m. at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in downtown Providence, RI. 

Head Coach Greg Vetrone begins his third season with FDU.  This year's team is looking to rebound off a disappointing 2010-11 season in which the squad finished 5-24 (3-15 NEC) overall.  Vetrone has posted a record of 16-45 in his first two seasons.
 
This year's squad features only four returnees who saw playing time last season.  Seniors Briahn Smith (Detroit, MI/Madison) and Sam Fernley (Sheffield, England/Silverdale) along with sophomores Mathias Seilund (Dragoer, Denmark/Falkonergaardens Gymnasium) and Ayotunde Oyeniyi (Lagos, Nigeria/The Rock School (FL)) contributed only 17.3 percent (333-of-1,866) of the scoring last season.  Juniors Melquan Bolding (Mt. Vernon, N.Y./Bishop Stepinac) and Louis Larizza (Port Chester, NY/Port Chester) also return for the Knights but did not see action last season.  Bolding sat out because he transferred from Duquesne after the 2009-10 season, and Larizza was injured all of last season.
 
Nine new players are in uniform for FDU this season.  Vetrone will give long looks to a host of newcomers to help sure up a thin frontcourt which includes just two returnees in Seilund and Oyeniyi.  The Knights hope that two graduate student transfers, George Goode (Raytown, MO/Raytown South) and Mouhamed Lo (Port Chester, NY/Port Chester ), can patrol the paint.  Both players have one year of eligibility left after graduating from their previous institutions.  Goode played three seasons at Louisville, averaging 2.0 points and 1.4 rebounds in 59 career games.  Lo, who is the adopted brother of current teammate Larizza, played three seasons at Toledo before opting not to play last season.  He averaged 4.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in 80 career games.
 
Junior college transfer Kinu Rochford (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison), who comes from the Global Institute of Technology, will play a key role in the paint as well.  The undersized post player has averaged a double-double everywhere he has played as he has a knack to find rebounds. 
 
The FDU backcourt only returns Smith and Fernley.  The Knights, who graduated leading scorer Mike Scott (Philadelphia, PA/Texas Christian), will look to add backcourt depth with Bolding and junior college transfers Lonnie Hayes (Cincinnati, Ohio/Harmony Prep) and Lonnie Robinson (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach).
 
Hayes will look to fill Scott's role at the point guard position.  He comes to FDU after a standout career on the JUCO level at Missouri-State West Plains that saw him lead his team to a national No. 1 ranking and a trip to the JUCO National Tournament.  Hayes was named a JUCO All-American last season.
 
Robinson averaged 15 points a game last season at Western Texas.  He will compete for time at the two and the three.
 
Bolding is a former Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team performer at Duquesne.  In his two seasons, he averaged 10.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, while starting 40-of-53 career contests.  He played his best basketball for the Dukes at the end of the season as he led them to the finals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament in 2010.  Bolding will be looked on to be FDU's primary scorer and will be an immediate impact player in the Northeast Conference.
 
Freshman Dylan Moody (Philadelphia, Pa./Abington Friends), who hails from Philadelphia, PA, will also see some time in the backcourt at the point guard position.
 
Three newcomers will not be participating this season.  Sophomore Yves Jules (Brooklyn, N.Y./Canarsie) is sitting out after transferring from Hofstra, while sophomore Mustaffa Jones and freshman #Anthony Avent, Jr.# will redshirt.  Jones played at Hartford last season.
 
Scouting Providence: The Friars will also be making their season debut on Saturday.  Providence is coming off a season in which they went 15-17 (4-14 Big East).  Fourteen of the Friars' victories came at home.  They return their second-leading scorer from a year ago in junior Vincent Council.  The 6-2 guard started all 32 contests and averaged 13.7 points per game.  Providence played a home exhibition game on Saturday, November 5 and escaped with a 76-75 victory over UMass-Lowell.  The Friars were led by sophomore guard Bryce Cotton who led all scorers with 26 points.  Council added 14 points, while sophomore guard Gerard Coleman and freshman forward LaDontae Henton chipped in with 13 and 12 points, respectively.  Coleman and Henton also led the Friars with nine rebounds. 
 
All-Time Series: This will be the third meeting in the all-time series with each team winning one game.  The two teams first met on December 19, 1984 with the Knights escaping with a 55-53 victory at Providence.  The last meeting between the two teams took place on November 14, 2006 in Providence which was a 96-71 Friars' victory.