Game Notes

CINCINNATI – The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team will open the 2012-13 season with a road game against Xavier University on Friday, Nov. 9.  The Knights will take on the Musketeers at the Cintas Center at 7:00 p.m.

The Muskateers are coming off a Sweet 16 appearance and their seventh-consecutive 20-win season with a 23-13 mark during the 2011-12 season.  Head Coach Chris Mack returns no starters and five letter winners from last year's squad, including Travis Taylor.  Taylor played two years at Garden-State rival and Northeast Conference foe, Monmouth University before transferring to Xavier and is no stranger to the Knights.  Taylor leads all returning players with 4.5 points and 3.7 rebounds per game last year.

Semaj Christon will make his debut with Xavier on Friday.  The freshman was named to the preseason Atlantic-10 All-Rookie team and recorded a team-high 12 points and dished out five assists in the team's only exhibition contest.  In exhibition play, the Mustakeers defeated Division II Kentucky State, 74-53.

Xavier was selected to finish ninth in the Atlantic-10 preseason coaches' poll. 

Captain Melquan Bolding (Mt. Vernon, N.Y./Bishop Stepinac) will lead the Knights in their season debut.  The senior averaged 15.1 points per game last season.  Senior Lonnie Robinson (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) will help Bolding in the backcourt.  The guard averaged 6.9 points per game last season and saw plenty of playing time with 25 starts in 29 games.

Head Coach Greg Vetrone will use youth to help the Knights recover from a 3-26 record last season.  Freshmen Xavier Harris (Philadelphia, Pa./Constitution) and Kyle Pearson (Woodbridge, N.J./Woodbridge) will look to make an immediate impact against Xavier on Friday night.

Friday's matchup is the first-ever meeting between the two schools.  It can be seen live locally on FOX Sports Ohio and heard on Cincinnati radio, 700 WLM-AM.