Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes
HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team will look to rebound from a winless weekend as they take on Monmouth University on Thursday, Jan. 24. Tipoff at the Multipurpose Activity Center in West Long Branch, N.J. is slated for 7 p.m.
The Knights fell to 7-12 on the year and 2-4 in Northeast Conference action after losing to LIU Brooklyn, 79-75, in overtime and falling, 70-51, at St. Francis Brooklyn last weekend.
The senior trio of Kinu Rochford (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison), Melquan Bolding (Mt. Vernon, N.Y./Bishop Stepinac) and Lonnie Robinson (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) has led the Knights, each with a double-digit scoring average on the year. Rochford paces FDU with 15.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, while Bolding and Robinson add 15.1 and 12.3 points per game, respectively. Junior Sidney Sanders Jr. (Charleston, S.C./Burke) recorded 10 points against St. Francis Brooklyn and has played considerable minutes at the point guard position in recent games.
As a unit, the Knights are averaging 66.3 points per game, while shooting 44.5 percent from the field. FDU leads the Northeast Conference with a three-point field goal percentage of 38.6.
The Knights have pulled down an average of 29.8 rebounds per game this year, but have been outrebounded by an average of 8.2 boards per game in conference action.
Like the Knights, Monmouth is 7-12 on the season, with a 2-4 NEC record. The Hawks have played the same conference schedule as FDU, but with wins over Saint Francis University and St. Francis Brooklyn and losses to Wagner, The Mount, Robert Morris and LIU Brooklyn.
Sophomore Andrew Nicholas leads the Hawks offensively with 14.2 points per game but was sidelined in Monmouth's last two games with a foot injury. Senior Jesse Steele adds 10.3 points per game for the Hawks and has led the team with at least 16 points in each of Monmouth's last four games.
The Hawks grab 32.1 rebounds per game and are led by seniors Marcus Ware and Ed Waite. The pair pulls down an average of 4.6 and 4.8 rebounds per game, respectively.
Collectively, the Hawks score 63.8 points per game, while shooting 38.5 percent from the field and 30.9 percent from beyond-the-arc. The team forces 19.4 opponent turnovers per game, with a league-leading 9.4 steals per contest.
The Hawks were selected to finish seventh in the Northeast Conference preseason coaches' poll. Second-year Head Coach King Rice guided last year's team to a 12-20 overall record, with a conference mark of 10-8 and an NEC tournament appearance.
FDU is 38-30 all-time against the Hawks, dating back to the 1972 campaign. During the 2011-12 season, the Hawks defeated FDU twice as part of Northeast Conference Rivalry Week.
Following the Garden State matchup, the Knights will travel to Hamden, Conn. to take on Quinnipiac on Saturday, Jan. 26. The game will be shown live on the MSG Network and Fox College Sports and is slated to begin at noon.
