Box Score
 
The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team dropped its second-straight contest Sunday afternoon to UAlbany, 81-62, at SEFCU Arena in Albany, NY.  With the victory, the Great Danes improve to 4-3 on the season, while the Knights fall to 1-4 overall.
 
After a jumper by junior Melquan Bolding (Mt. Vernon, N.Y./Bishop Stepinac) put the Knights ahead 28-26 with 3:46 left before halftime, UAlbany responded by scoring the final 13 points of the first half and the first four points of the second half to complete its 17-0 run with a 43-28 advantage with 18:24 left in the game which would be the difference.
 
Junior Lonnie Hayes (Cincinnati, Ohio/Harmony Prep) led FDU with 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting, while going 4-for-8 from behind-the-arc.  Fellow classmate Kinu Rochford (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison) added 11 points and a team-best seven rebounds, including five on the offensive glass, in 19 minutes.  Grad student Mouhamed Lo (Port Chester, NY/Port Chester ) chipped in nine points off the bench.
 
The game was pretty much even heading into the final four minutes of the first half before the Great Danes took over.  UAlbany took a 17-11 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining before halftime thanks to an 8-0 run, but a three-point play by Lo and a fade away 15 foot jumper by Hayes cut the deficit to one.
 
After the Great Danes went back ahead by four, Hayes knocked down a three, and Bolding followed with a put back off his own miss to give FDU a 21-20 lead at the 8:33 mark of the first half.
 
With 3:22 remaining before halftime, Jason Guerrier tied the game at 28 (sixth tie of the first half) on a jumper which started the Great Danes' 17-0 run.  FDU missed three shots and turned the ball over two more times over its final five possessions of the half.
 
Despite being down 39-28 at the half, the Knights shot pretty well, going 12-for-26 (46.2 percent) but shot only 1-of-7 from three-point range and missed four of seven free throw attempts.  UAlbany, however, made 15-of-28 (53.6 percent) shots, went 5-of-9 from downtown and made all four of its free throw attempts.
 
The Knights could not get anything going to start the second half as the home team was able to extend their lead to 53-34 with 13:54 remaining in the contest, capping a 25-8 run that lasted nearly nine and a half minutes. 
 
FDU was able to cut the lead to 57-42 on a Hayes' jumper, but that was the closest they would come as the lead ballooned at one point to 24 points (80-56 with 3:02 remaining).
 
The Knights cooled off in the second half, shooting only 32.3 percent (10-of-31) to finish at 38.6 percent (22-of-57) for the game.  FDU also made only 13-of-25 free throws (52.0 percent).
 
UAlbany also cooled off in the second half, shooting 44.8 percent (13-of-29) but finished the game just under 50 percent (28-of-57).  The Great Danes were also able to make 19-of-25 free throws and out-rebounded the Knights, 41-35.
 
“They beat us in every facet of the game today,” Head Coach Greg Vetrone said.  “They played harder and with a lot more energy, and I give their coach a lot of credit.”
 
Gerardo Suero, UAlbany's leading scorer, came off the bench to score 23 points in 23 minutes of play.  Logan Aronhalt added 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Blake Metcalf and Guerrier chipped in 14 and 13 points, respectively.
 
The Knights will have three days off before opening Northeast Conference play Thursday, Dec. 1 when they make the long road trip to western Pennsylvania to take on Robert Morris.  Tip-off in Moon Township, PA is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.