Box Score

The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team dropped its 2011-12 season opener Saturday afternoon at Providence, 72-61, at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in downtown Providence, RI.  With the victory, the Friars improve to 1-0 on the season, while the Knights fall to 0-1 overall.

Making his debut for FDU, junior Lonnie Hayes (Cincinnati, Ohio/Harmony Prep) scored a game-high 26 points and dished out a team-high four assists to lead the Knights.  Junior Kinu Rochford (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison), also making his Knights' debut, recorded a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds before fouling out with 4:35 remaining in the game.

Hayes also made 9-of-11 free throws, while Rochford added game highs of two blocks and two steals.

The visitors ran out of gas late as foul trouble and a short bench played a role down the stretch of the game.

Providence took control early on as they scored 17 of the game's first 22 points to take a 17-5 lead with 13:11 to go in the first half, prompting FDU head coach Greg Vetrone to take a 30-second timeout.

The Knights came out and cut the deficit to 18-12 after the timeout as Hayes connected on a three-pointer and a circus shot layup with junior Lonnie Robinson's fast break layup sandwiched in-between.

The Friars answered with six straight to go back ahead 12 points, 24-12, with 10:26 remaining in the first half.
A tip back by George Goode (Raytown, MO/Raytown South) triggered a 9-0 run that was capped by a Robinson layup cut the lead to 24-21 at the 7:26 mark of the first half.

The Friars scored five-straight points to go back up nine before FDU scored seven of the next nine.  Hayes' acrobatic three-point play cut the lead back to three at 31-28 with 1:19 left in the first half.

Providence scored on a tip back at the buzzer to end the first half and went into the locker room up five, 33-28. 

FDU only shot 33.3 percent (11-for-33) over the first 20 minutes, while the Friars connected on 12-of-29 shots (41.4 percent), including 5-of-10 from behind-the-arc.  The Knights, however, did outrebound Providence, 22-20 with Rochford grabbing six of the team's 13 offensive rebounds.  Both teams turned it over five times.

To open the second half, the Friars extended their lead back to nine points, 44-35, with 13:43 to go in the contest.
A 6-2 spurt by FDU cut the deficit to 46-41.  With the Knights still down five at 50-45 after a Rochford dunk, Providence stretched the lead back to nine, 56-47, with 5:47 left in the game.

Senior Briahn Smith (Detroit, MI/Madison) picked off a pass and took it the other way for an uncontested layup to cut the lead to 56-50, but on the next possession, Rochford picked up his fifth foul that resulted in a Friars' three-point play to put them back up nine. 

Providence was never really threatened by the Knights after that as they hung on for the 72-61 victory.

“For the first game of the season, we gave a great effort,” Vetrone said.  “We were in the game most of the way.”

“Lonnie Hayes (Cincinnati, Ohio/Harmony Prep) and Kinu (Rochford) gave great efforts in their first collegiate game.  The fact that we played short-handed, I am very excited about the direction this team will be going.”

FDU shot 10-for-24 in the second half and finished the game shooting 36.8 percent from the floor but only 4-for-18 from three-point range.  Providence also shot better in the second half and finished the game at 44.3 percent (27-for-61), including 6-of-14 from downtown. 

Providence also won the second half rebounding battle and won the overall battle on the glass, 41-38, with both teams ripping down 19 on the offensive boards.

The Friars also forced seven turnovers in the second half (to their four) to give the Knights 12 for the game, while committing nine.
Providence had four players score in double figures.  Gerard Coleman led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds.  Bryce Cotton added 16 points, while Vincent Council and LaDontae Hinton scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The Knights will return to action on Tuesday, November 15 for their home-opener at Stratis Arena against Lehigh.  Tip-off in Hackensack, NJ is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.