The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team dropped its eight-straight contest Wednesday night as they fell at Monmouth, 68-57, at the Multipurpose Activity Center in West Long Branch, NJ. With the victory, the Hawks improve to 7-18 (3-10 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 4-20 (2-11 NEC) overall.
Seniors Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) and Mike Scott (Philadelphia, PA/Texas Christian) led the Knights with 15 points, while fellow classmate Kamil Svrdlik (Prerov, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Zlin) added 10 points (all in the first half). Senior John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) led the Knights with a game-high eight rebounds.
After trailing 4-2, The Knights outscored the Hawks, 13-4, to take an early 15-8 lead.
Still leading by six, Monmouth scored six-straight points to tie the game at 20 with 10:20 to go in the opening half.
Grier then personally outscored the Hawks, 8-2, to extend the lead back to six at 28-22.
The Hawks were able to cut the lead to four, but Scott's third three of the half capped a 6-0 run, giving the Knights their largest lead of the half, 36-26, with 2:48 to go.
Monmouth scored the final four points of the half, and the Knights went into halftime leading 36-30.
The Knights shot a respectable 43.3 percent (13-of-30) over the first 20 minutes, including 5-of-10 from behind-the-arc. They also outrebounded the Hawks, 17-15, and only turned the ball over three times.
In the second half, the Knights opened the half on a 7-2 run as junior Briahn Smith (Detroit, MI/Madison)'s three from the left corner gave the Knights their largest lead of the game at 43-32 with 17:39 to go in the game.
In the blink of an eye, the Hawks scored 12-straight points to take a 44-43, their first lead since leading 4-2 at the beginning of the game.
FDU was able to take back the lead at 46-44 as Grier canned a 25-footer from the top of the key with 13:53 remaining.
With the score tied at 48, Scott stole the ball and converted an easy layup to give the Knights their last lead of the game, 50-48.
Monmouth then scored seven straight to go up 55-50 with 8:24 left. However, the Knights were able to cut the lead down to three on three different occasions. Freshman Ayotunde Oyeniyi (Lagos, Nigeria/The Rock School (FL))'s put back put the Knights down 60-57 with 2:26 remaining in the contest.
The Knights were unable to score the rest of the way as the Hawks pulled away with the final eight points to secure the 68-57 victory.
The Knights were outscored by the Hawks in the second half, 38-21. They also shot 30.4 percent (7-of-23) in the second half, while Monmouth shot 51.6 percent (16-of-31). FDU finished the game 20-of-53 (37.7 percent) from the floor, and the Hawks shot 48.3 percent (28-of-58).
FDU also turned the ball over eight times in the second half to finish with 11, while the Hawks only turned it over four times over the final 20 minutes to finish with 10 for the game. Monmouth also edged the Knights on the glass. 34-31.
"We have to learn how to finish games," said Head Coach Greg Vetrone. "We will have to do a better job on Saturday if we expect to beat them (Monmouth)."
The Hawks' Marcus Ware led all scorers with 24 points (20 in the second half). Mike Myers Keitt added 15 points and eight rebounds.
The Knights and Hawks will play the back end of the home-and-home series that is part of NEC Rivalry Week on Saturday, Feb. 12, at Stratis Arena in Hackensack. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live on MSG. FDU's Winter Knights Homecoming will also be taking place on Saturday with events starting at 11 a.m.
