The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team dropped its season finale Saturday afternoon at Quinnipiac, 71-60, at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, CT. With the victory, the Bobcats improve to 21-8 (13-5 NEC) on the season and will be the No. 2 seed in next week's NEC Conference Tournament. The Knights finish the season with an overall record of 5-24 (3-15 NEC).
Senior Mike Scott (Philadelphia, PA/Texas Christian) went out with a bang for the Knights with a career afternoon. He poured in a career-high 27 points, knocked down a career-best seven three-pointers on nine attempts and also tied a career best in field goals with eight on 14 attempts.
Senior Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) added 13 points, and freshman Mathias Seilund (Dragoer, Denmark/Falkonergaardens Gymnasium) came off the bench to chip in nine points.
Leading 26-20 with 4:25 to go in the first half, the Knights saw Quinnipiac outscore them, 31-5, to take its largest lead of the game, 51-31, with 12:38 remaining in the contest.
The Knights poor shooting in the second half combined with the hot shooting and rebounding domination by the Bobcats allowed for the big run. The Bobcats outrebounded the Knights, 54-26.
After Quinnipiac jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead, the Knights fired right back with 12-straight points thanks to six points each by Grier and Scott to take a 12-8 lead. The FDU run would eventually become an 18-4 run as freshman Tyler Reynolds (Eugene, OR/Sheldon) banked-in three from the top of the key put the Knights up 18-12 with 9:53 to go in the first half.
The Bobcats cut the lead to one before Grier and Scott combined for the next eight points for the Knights to extend the lead back to six at 26-20. However, Quinnipiac was able to outscore FDU, 11-2, over the final 4:24 of the half to go into the break leading 31-28.
The Knights were able to rebound after its early deficit thanks to Scott's shooting from downtown as he went a perfect 4-for-4 from behind-the-arc. As a team, FDU went 5-of-9 from long range over the first 20 minutes.
The Knights also only turned the ball over five times, while forcing eight Quinnipiac miscues. They also took advantage of the Bobcats' shaky free throw shooting (5-of-11). However, the Bobcats were able to make its comeback thank to a decisive 29-12 advantage on the glass.
To open the second half, the Bobcats scored the first 15 points over the first five minutes and three seconds to go up 46-28. The Knights were never able to make a serious run as Quinnipiac cruised to the 71-60 victory.
FDU finished the game shooting 31.6 percent (18-of-57) but did knock down 9-of-21 from three-point range. The Knights also had their best game at the charity stripe as they went 15-of-16. They also only turned the ball over 11 times, while forcing 15 turnovers.
Justin Rutty led the Bobcats with a double-double as he scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. James Johnson added 13 points, while Deontay Twyman and Lance Brown each chipped in 12.
