NORMAL, Ill. – The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team dropped a 91-58 decision to Illinois State University at Redbird Arena in Normal, Ill. on Tuesday, Nov. 20.  The Knights fall to 0-3 on the season, while the Redbirds improve to 4-0.  Both teams will travel to South Padre Island, Texas to play two more games as part of the South Padre Island Invitational. 

The Knights finished the first half just eight points behind the Missouri Valley Conference team.  However, a 30-5 run for the Redbirds broke open the lead in the first portion of the second half.  Following the scoring spree by ISU, the Knights outscored the home team,19-18, over the final nine minutes of the game.

“At the end of the day, for our team, we need to get better day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month,” said Head Coach Greg Vetrone.  “In the first half of this game, we got better.”

The FDU defense started the contest strong, stopping the Redbirds on their first three possessions.  Senior Melquan Bolding (Mt. Vernon, N.Y./Bishop Stepinac) led the Knights' offense with a three-point shot to put the first points on the scoreboard.

The Redbirds countered with a three-point shot of their own and a tip-in layup to take the lead three minutes into play.

The teams traded the advantage until a Lonnie Robinson (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) layup put FDU up, 8-7, four minutes in.

ISU shot 50 percent from the floor during the majority of the first half to take an 11-point lead midway through the half.

A flurry of scoring from Bolding and Mathias Seilund (Dragoer, Denmark/Falkonergaardens Gymnasium) helped the Knights cut the deficit to just four points with three minutes remaining before halftime.  The Redbirds responded to increase the lead again, but a big three from Robinson cut the score to 37-33 with two minutes left to play in the half.

Two made free-throws by Jackie Carmichael and a jump shot from Bryant Allen in the final minute of the first half gave ISU a 41-33 lead at the break.

During the first 20 minutes the Knights shot 48 percent, compared to the Redbirds' 48.5 percent. 

Bolding led the Knights' charge with 11 first-half points, while Mustafaa Jones (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) added nine points on three made three-pointers.  Bryant led ISU with 11 points in the first half.

A 10-0 run for the Redbirds opened the second half before a free-throw by Robinson gave FDU its first points after halftime.  ISU went on to outscore the Knights 30-5 over the first 11 minutes after intermission before connecting baskets by Robinson, Bolding and Jones stopped FDU's scoring draught.

In the final nine minutes of the game the Knights were outscored by just one point, 19-18, to hold the Redbirds' advantage at 33 points.

ISU's Carmichael led all players with 17 points and seven rebounds.  The Knights saw double-digit scoring from three players: Bolding (16), Robinson (13) and Jones (12).  Jones led FDU with six rebounds, while Robinson paced the team with five assists. 

Overall, the Knights shot 42.2 percent from the floor, while the Redbirds made 53.1 percent of shots.  The shooting difference came in the second half when ISU shot 58.1 percent from the floor, compared to FDU's 35 percent. 

“The one thing that I'm excited about is that our team walked into this environment and sustained a first half like that,” Vetrone said.  “That's a positive.”

The Knights will face Delaware State University on Friday, Nov. 23 in South Padre Island, Texas as part of the South Padre Island Invitational. Tipoff is slated for 1:00 p.m.