Box Score

The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team was defeated by Wagner, 90-70,in a Northeast Conference tilt  Saturday evening at the Spiro Sports Center in Staten Island, NY.  With the victory, the Seahawks improve to 23-4 (14-2 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 2-25 (1-15 NEC) overall.

Junior Melquan Bolding (Mt. Vernon, N.Y./Bishop Stepinac) led the Knights with 23 points (21 after halftime) on 7-of-17 shooting from the field and 8-of-8 shooting from the free throw line.  He also dished out a season-high six assists.  Junior Kinu Rochford (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison) added a career-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.  Graduate student George Goode (Raytown, MO/Raytown South) scored 12 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds, while senior Briahn Smith (Detroit, MI/Madison) chipped in 10 points.

With the scored tied at eight early on, Wagner outscored FDU, 25-8, to take a 33-16 lead with 5:55 remaining before halftime.

Trailing 31-16 with 9:16 to go in the opening 20 minutes, the Knights missed out on a golden opportunity as they held the Seahawks to only five points the rest of the first half.  However, FDU only managed to score four points and entered halftime down 36-20.

Wagner shot 46.7 percent (14-of-30) in the opening half and made 4-of-10 three's, while the Knights shot only 31.0 percent (9-of-29) and missed all four of their three-point attempts.

In the second half, FDU caught fire from the floor and connected on 60.0 percent (18-of-30) of its attempts to finish the game shooting 45.8 percent (27-of-59), but the Seahawks also shot the ball well in the second half (56.8 percent, 21-of-37) to finish the contest shooting 52.2 percent (35-of-67).

Wagner also made 6-of-18 three-pointers, and the Knights made only 1-of-8 for the game.  FDU did manage to make 15-of-19 free throws but could not take advantage of the Seahawks struggles at the line as the home team converted only 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from the charity stripe.

Defensive pressure by Wagner was the biggest story of the game.  The home team forced the Knights into 21 turnovers and scored 26 points as a result.  The Seahawks also registered 13 steals which led to 27 fast break points.  FDU scored only nine points off 10 turnovers by Wagner and only two fast break points.

The Knights did win the rebounding battle as they out-rebounded the Seahawks, 37-34.

“We have two games left this season, and we have a chance to play spoiler next weekend,” Head Coach Greg Vetrone said. 

FDU will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 23 when they host first-place LIU Brooklyn at Stratis Arena in Hackensack, NJ.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and will follow a pregame ceremony honoring former head coach Tom Green for his induction into the Northeast Conference Hall of Fame.