Box Score

The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team came up short Saturday afternoon at Central Connecticut State, 69-62, in a Northeast Conference tilt at Detrick Gymnasium in New Britain, CT.  With the victory, the Blue Devils improve to 10-10 (7-3 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 2-19 (1-9 NEC) overall.

The biggest difference in the game came at the free throw line as CCSU nailed 25-of-28 including 21-of-24 in the second half, while FDU made only 11-of-19 for the contest and 7-of-14 in the second half.

The Knights also turned the ball over 16 times which led to 16 points for the Blue Devils.  FDU scored only eight points off nine CCSU miscues.

Graduate student George Goode (Raytown, MO/Raytown South) led the Knights with 17 points, a game-high nine rebounds and two blocked shots.  Junior Kinu Rochford (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison) came off the bench to score 13 points, grab five rebounds and block two shots.

Senior Briahn Smith (Detroit, MI/Madison) added 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, while sophomore Mathias Seilund (Dragoer, Denmark/Falkonergaardens Gymnasium) chipped in 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range and two blocked shots.

Junior Lonnie Robinson (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) added nine points, seven rebounds and a career-high seven assists in 40 minutes of action.

The turning point in the game came with the score tied at 38 nearly eight minutes into the second half.  After Seilund hit a three to tie the game, Rochford fouled the Blue Devils' Robby Ptacek, who came into the game as the second-best free throw shooter in the country.  Immediately after the call was made, Rochford was whistled for a technical foul.  Ptacek made all four free throws and gave CCSU the lead for good with 12:04 remaining in the game.

The Blue Devils opened the game with an early 11-4 lead and eventually stretched their advantage to 20-10 with 8:11 left before halftime.
Goode, who was in a groove all afternoon with his turnaround jump shot, triggered a 14-0 spurt for the Knights over the next 4:55 to give them a 24-20 lead.  Seilund scored eight points during the stretch including back-to-to back three's which cut the lead to two.  Rochford tied the game, and Seilund gave the Knights the lead with a bucket.

Smith knocked down a three from the right wing to give FDU its largest lead of the game at 27-22 before CCSU scored the final four points of the half to cut the Knights' lead to 27-26 going into halftime.

FDU shot 47.6 percent (10-of-21) over the first 20 minutes including 3-of-7 from three-point range, while making 4-of-5 free throws.  The Knights assisted on eight of their 10 made baskets and out-rebounded the Blue Devils, 14-13.  CCSU shot 40 percent (10-of-25), made
only 2-of-7 from long-range and all four of its free throw attempts. 

To start the second half, FDU took a pair of early three-point leads before the Blue Devils outscored the Knights, 8-2, to take a 36-32 lead with 14:35 to go in the game.

The Knights fought back and as mentioned before, Seilund tied the game at 38 with a three before the Rochford fouls. 

After making all four free throw attempts, Ptacek knocked down a jumper to give CCSU a 44-38 lead.

For much of the second part of the second half, the Knights could not cut the lead to less than five nor could the Blue Devils extend the lead to more than seven.

The visitors had their chance to make a move with a little over five minutes to go.  Down 54-47, Goode went to the free throw line but missed both free throws.  Still down by the same score, Goode then missed a dunk with 4:35 to go.

A tip back by Rochford finally cut the lead back to five at 54-49 with 3:49 to go, but FDU missed a golden opportunity to cut into the deficit and put some pressure on the Blue Devils.

However, CCSU was able to regain control and extended its lead out to nine at 60-51 and never allowed the Knights to get any closer than six the rest of the way.

FDU made 13-of-28 field goals in the second half to finish the contest shooting 46.9 percent (23-of-49), while going 5-of-14 from three-point range.  They held the Blue Devils to 42 percent (21-of-50) for the game and only 2-of-9 from behind the arc.  The Knights also out-rebounded CCSU, 31-28.

“We did a great job of executing the game plan on defense,” Head Coach Greg Vetrone said.  “We did an excellent job of containing (Ken) Horton and made Ptacek and (Kyle) Vinales earn their points today as they both struggled in their field goal shooting.”

“We make some layups and our free throws in the second half, we have a great shot of maybe winning this ball game.  Once again, I loved how our guys competed short-handed.  We got down early but fought back to make it a ball game.”

Ken Horton, who came in averaging 20.1 points per game and 9.6 rebounds per game, was held to 12 points and four rebounds.  Kyle Vinales, who was the NEC's third-leading scorer behind Horton at 18.4 point per game, scored 17 for the Blue Devils but shot only 4-of-13 from the field, while making all eight of his free throws.  Ptacek, who was the NEC's fourth-leading scorer at 17.8 points per game, scored a game-high 21 points but shot 6-of-15 from the floor and made 8-of-10 from the charity stripe.

The Knights will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 2 when they host the Bobcats of Quinnipiac in a Northeast Conference matchup.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Stratis Arena in Hackensack, NJ.