Box Score

The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team dropped its fourth-straight game as they fell at home Wednesday night to Monmouth to kick off NEC Rivalry Week, 75-62, at Stratis Arena in Hackensack, NJ.  With the victory, the Hawks improve to 8-18 (6-7 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 2-22 (1-12 NEC) overall. 

Junior Melquan Bolding (Mt. Vernon, N.Y./Bishop Stepinac) came off the bench to score a game-high 17 points to lead the Knights.  Graduate Student George Goode (Raytown, MO/Raytown South) added 16 points and six rebounds.  Junior Lonnie Robinson (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) chipped in 12 points and a team-high five assists, while senior Briahn Smith (Detroit, MI/Madison) tallied 11 points.  Junior Kinu Rochford (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison) pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds and registered a game-high three blocks.

The biggest difference in the game was first half shooting as Monmouth shot 54.5 percent (18-of-33) over the first 20 minutes including a blistering 80 percent (8-of-10) from three-point range.  The Hawks connected on their first six three's of the game as they went into halftime leading 49-29.  The Knights shot only 35.5 percent (11-of-31) and knocked down 3-of-8 from behind the arc. 

Monmouth also forced the Knights into 17 turnovers and scored 21 points off FDU's miscues throughout the contest.

The Hawks raced out to a quick 9-2 lead before back-to-back three's by Robinson and Bolding cut the lead to 9-8 with 16:18 to go before halftime.

Monmouth answered with an 11-0 run to extend its lead to 20-8 at the 13:00 mark of the first half.

A layup by Goode cut the deficit to 21-14, but the Hawks answered with another 11-0 run to take a 32-14 lead with 8:29 remaining in the first half.

The lead eventually reached 22 at 42-20 with 4:30 left before halftime.  The Knights battled back as a Goode jumper cut the lead to 44-29 before Monmouth scored the final five points of the half to go into halftime leading 49-29.

The Hawks shooting in the second half was a different story as they only shot 20 percent (5-of-25) over the final 20 minutes, but they did make 3-of-5 three pointers.

The FDU defense picked up as they limited Monmouth to only five points over the first 10 minutes of the second half but its shooting woes continued as they were only able to outscore the Hawks, 13-5, over the first six minutes after halftime.

After a three-pointer by Bolding cut the lead to 54-42 with 14:04 remaining, the Knights could not take advantage over the next three minutes to cut into the lead.

Robinson converted a layup to cut the lead to 10 at 54-44 with 10:55 to go, but Monmouth was able to score the next five points to extend its lead back out to 15 at 59-44 with 9:02 remaining in the contest.

FDU cut the lead to 10 on two different occasions with the last time coming on Bolding jumper.  His basket cut the lead to 61-51 at the 5:31 mark of the second half.

The Hawks, who made 13-of-14 free throws in the second half, made all six of their attempts in the final five minutes to hang on for the 75-62 victory.  Monmouth converted 90 percent (18-of-20) of its free throws for the game.  They also made two of their three second half trey balls over the last five minutes.

The Knights shot 40.7 percent (11-of-27) in the second half to finish the game shooting 37.9 percent (22-of-58).  They made only 4-of-12 from three-point range over the final 20 minutes to finish 35 percnet (7-of-20) from behind the arc.  FDU also went 11-of-15 from the charity stripe.

After their hot first half, the Hawks ended up shooting 39.7 percent (23-of-58), but they made 11-of-15 three-pointers. 

“We played awful defense in the first half and dug ourselves into a very deep hole,” Head Coach Greg Vetrone said.  “In the second half, we played much better defense and gave ourselves a chance.  However, we have to make shots.” 

“When a team scores only five points over the first 10 minutes of the second half when you are down 20 points, you have to take advantage of that.  We did not.  Give Monmouth credit.  They made shots in the first half to put us down big.  We have to give a complete 40 minute effort in the rematch on Saturday.”

Jesse Steele led Monmouth with 16 points, while dishing out a game-high six assists and recording a game-high three steals.  Andrew Nicholas came off the bench to add 11 points, and Dion Nesmith chipped in 10.  Steele and Nicholas combined to go 6-of-8 from three-point range as they both went 3-of-4.

The Knights and Hawks will reunite this Saturday, Feb. 11 as they play the second game of a back-to-back to conclude their part of NEC Rivalry Week.  Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. in West Long Branch, NJ.