Box Score

The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team suffered its toughest loss of the season Saturday night at Saint Francis PA, 73-69, in a Northeast Conference tilt at DeGol Arena in Loretto, PA.  With the victory, the Red Flash improve to 2-6 (2-0 NEC) on the season, while the Knights drop their fourth straight to fall to 1-6 (0-2 NEC) overall.

After taking its largest lead of the game (38-29 with 2:12 before halftime), FDU was outscored by 17 points as the Red Flash took their largest lead of the game at 59-51 with 7:12 left in the game.

Two free throws from junior Lonnie Hayes (Cincinnati, Ohio/Harmony Prep) triggered a 9-2 run as his baseline runner cut the lead to 61-60 which forced SFPA to call a 30 second timeout with 3:33 to go.

The Red Flash responded with two free throws by Jon Taylor to go back up three, but Hayes once again cut the lead back to one on a jumper.

SFPA's Scott Eatherton scored back-to-back baskets to extend the lead back to five at 67-62 with 2:01 left in the game.

After Hayes hit a running floater to cut the lead back down to three, Taylor scored on a dunk to put the Red Flash back ahead 69-64.

Junior Kinu Rochford (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison) scored a layup with 1:04 to go, and FDU called its final timeout.  The Knights were then able to force a five-second call to get the ball back down 69-66.

Rochford got the ball on the inbounds pass and was fouled as he went to the hoop but made only 1-of-2 free throws to cut the lead to 69-67 with 1:02 left.

With 29 seconds to go, Rochford fouled out as he had to stop a dunk by Tony Peters.  Peters then missed both free throws, but FDU could not take advantage as Anthony Ervin grabbed the loose ball and made both free throws with 22 seconds left to put SFPA up 71-67.

FDU then turned the ball over, and Ervin went 1-of-2 at the line when he was fouled.  George Goode (Raytown, MO/Raytown South) cut the deficit to 72-69 with a layup with six seconds to go.

The Red Flash's Chris Johnson was fouled, missed the first free throw but made the second to ice the game for SFPA and give them the 73-69 victory.

Both teams shot the ball extremely well on the night.  FDU shot a season-best 57.1 percent (28-of-49) with a season-high 18 assists coming on its 28 baskets.  They also knocked down 5-of-9 three pointers (all in the first half).  However, they only made 8-of14 free throws.

The Red Flash shot 52.8 percent (28-of-53) including 14-of-25 in the second half (56.0 percent)  They also had a tough time from three-point range going 2-for-10 and also struggled at the line as they made only 15-of-29 (51.7 percent).

The biggest differences in the contest were points in the paint (FDU outscored 42-34), points off turnovers (SFPA 22 points off 16 Knights' miscues; FDU nine points off 13 Red Flash miscues), second chance points (FDU outscored 16-9) and rebounds (FDU out-rebounded 31-26, including 13-6 on the offensive glass).

Both teams started off the game jockeying for position as there were seven ties and seven lead changes in the first 12:11 of the game.
With the game tied at 24, Goode knocked down a jumper to trigger a 12-3 Knights' run to give them a 36-27 lead with 2:51 to go before halftime. 

The Knights still led by nine at 38-29 before a 7-2 run by the Red Flash over the final 1:16 of the half cut the lead to 40-36 at the break.

FDU shot a blistering 60.7 percent (17-of-28) in the first half, knocked down 5-of-9 from long range and assisted on 14 of its 17 baskets.  SFPA shot a solid 50 percent (14-of-28) but missed 7-of-13 free throws. 

Rochford knocked in a turnaround jumper off the glass to give the Knights a 42-36 lead, but five-straight points by SFPA prompted Head Coach Greg Vetrone to call a 30-second timeout with 17:45 to go in the game.

After going down two points, junior Melquan Bolding (Mt. Vernon, N.Y./Bishop Stepinac) tied the game at 47 on two free throws with 15:05 left in the contest.

A 12-4 run by the Red Flash gave them their largest lead of the game at 59-51 with 7:12 to go before the Knights tried to come back.

Goode led four FDU players in double figures with a career night.  He scored a career-high 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the floor and grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds for his first career double-double.  Bolding added 13 points (11 in the first half) and a game-high three steals.  Rochford went a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor to chip in 11 points, while junior Lonnie Robinson (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) chipped in 10 points (all in the first half).  Hayes added nine points (all in the second half) and dished out a team-high six assists.

Eatherton led SFPA with 19 points (15 in the second half) on 8-of-9 shooting, while Ervin came off the bench to score 19 and also grabbed nine rebounds.  Stephon Whyatt added 12 points, and Chris Johnson registered nine assists.

“We shot the ball as well as you can shoot it,” Vetrone said.  “We have to figure out how to get better on defense quick if we want to win games.”

The Knights will jump back into non-conference play when they travel to Long Island, NY on Wednesday, Dec. 7 to take on Stony Brook.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and will feature an audio broadcast courtesy of www.fduknights.com.