Box Score

The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team saw its losing streak reach nine games Monday evening as they fell on the road at Columbia, 67-52, at Levien Gymnasium in Manhattan, NY.  With the victory the Lions improve to 9-5 on the season, while the Knights fall to 1-11.

Junior Kinu Rochford (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison) led three Knights in double-figures with 15 points with 13 coming after halftime.  Fellow classmate Melquan Bolding (Mt. Vernon, N.Y./Bishop Stepinac) came off the bench to score 11 points, while junior Lonnie Robinson (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

The Knights took an early 4-3 lead thanks to four points from sophomore Mathias Seilund (Dragoer, Denmark/Falkonergaardens Gymnasium).

Columbia scored the next eight points to take an 11-4 lead with 13:10 to go before halftime.

However, the Knights answered with a 10-3 run with graduate student George Goode (Raytown, MO/Raytown South) scoring the first three points before Bolding scored six straight to tie the game at 14.

After the Lions called a 30 second timeout, they scored 13 unanswered points and outscored the Knights, 17-3, over the final 8:37 of the half to go into the break up 31-17.

FDU shot only 26.9 percent (7-of-26) in the first half, while Columbia connected on half of its shots (11-of-22).  They also knocked down 4-of-7 from long range. 

In the second half, the Knights shot 46.4 percent (13-of-28) but the closest they could cut the deficit to was 12 at 47-35 with 10:52 remaining in the contest. 

The Lions then scored the next nine points to take a commanding 56-35 lead with 6:42 to go.

Columbia cooled off in the second half as they only shot 37.9 percent to finish the game shooting 43.1 percent (22-of-51).  FDU shot 37.0 percent (20-of-54) from the floor.

Two of the biggest differences in the game came at the free throw line and from three-point range.  FDU made only 11-of-20 free throws, while Columbia made 15-of-18.  The Knights only made 1-of-5 from long-range, and the Lions connected on 8-of-22 from behind the arc.

Columbia also out-rebounded the Knights, 35-33, but FDU did only turn the ball over 12 times, while forcing 16 Lions' miscues.

“Our second season starts on Thursday when we host Wagner,” Head Coach Greg Vetrone said.  “We have to work on a variety of areas in the next couple days.”

Columbia's Meiko Lyles led all scorers with a game-high 25 points. 

The Knights will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 5 when they return to Northeast Conference play.  FDU will host Wagner at Stratis Arena with tip scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Hackensack, NJ