Box Score

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team dropped an 87-76 decision Tuesday night to Metro State in the consolation round of the NIT Season Tip-Off at Arizona's McKale Center. The loss drops the Knights to 1-4 on the season.

Senior Sidney Sanders Jr. (Charleston, S.C./Burke) led four players in double-figures with a career-high 22 points while tying a season-high in assists with seven. Junior Mustafaa Jones (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) knocked down 5-of-6 from distance to add 15 points, while graduate student Scooter Gillette (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) and freshman Matt MacDonald (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius) chipped in 13 and 11 points, respectively.

The Roadrunners broke away from an early one-point lead with 11 unanswered points to go up 15-3, and used a 17-7 spurt to take its largest lead of the game at 32-10 with 8:28 left in the first half.

But the Knights fought back with a 14-5 run to cut the deficit to 37-24 on Jones' fourth three pointer of the half. A basket by sophomore Xavier Harris (Philadelphia, Pa./Constitution) cut the lead to 10 at 41-31 with just under two minutes to go before halftime, but the Roadrunners closed out the half with eight of the next 10 points to go into locker room with a 49-33 lead.

FDU shot 50 percent (12-of-24) and made 5-of-10 from distance, but Metro State shot 56.3 percent (18-of-32), including 5-of-10 from three, and held a 17-8 advantage on the glass.

After the Knights went down 18 early in the second half, they started to make a move, and a layup after a steal from Sanders capped a 16-8 spurt to put FDU back down 10 at 61-51 with 10:48 remaining in the contest.

Back-to-back three's from senior Mathias Seilund (Dragoer, Denmark/Falkonergaardens Gymnasium) and Jones at the 8:19 mark trimmed the Roadrunners' advantage down to six at 66-60, with the Knights outscoring Metro State by 16 since 8:28 remaining in the first half.

But it was the closest FDU would come, as Metro State increased its lead back to double-digits while never seeing it shrink to
less than eight the rest of the way.

The Knights shot 60 percent (15-of-25) in the second half, including 7-of-9 from three, before finishing the game shooting at a 55.1 percent (27-of-49) and 63.2 percent (12-of-19) from long distance. FDU assisted on 19 of its 27 buckets.

The difference in the contest game on the glass and at the free throw line, where the Roadrunners outrebounded the Knights, 35-17, and 16-5 on the offensive end, which led to a 22-11 advantage in second-chance points. Metro State also knocked down 23-of-28 free throws, while FDU made 10 of its 13 attempts.

"Metro State had two guards that we just simply could not stop, and they are an excellent team," Head Coach Greg Herenda said. "This is the second night we shot 55 percent and lost. When we get better defensively and on the glass we will start winning games."

The Roadrunners were led in scoring my Mitch McCarron, who led all scorers and rebounders with 34 points and 10 boards. Brandon Jefferson added 28 points and eight rebounds for Metro State, who shot 49.1 percent (28-of-57) and 8-of-17 from three-point range.

The Knights will return to action Saturday, Nov. 23 when they return to Stratis Arena to host Saint Peter's for an in-state contest at 7 p.m.