Box Score
BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team crushed three-time defending Northeast Conference champion LIU Brooklyn, 89-67, on Thursday night at the Steinberg Wellness Center. With the victory, the Knights defeat the Blackbirds for the first time in 11 games and improve to 6-11 (2-1 NEC) on the season, while LIU loses at home for only the third time in its last 44 contests and falls to 5-11 (0-3 NEC) overall.

FDU shot 48.5 percent (33-of-68) from the field and knocked down 13-of-30 from three-point range (43.5 percent), while the Blackbirds connected at a 40.7 percent (22-of-54) clip from the floor and only 8-of-28 from long distance.

But the biggest difference in the contest was turnovers. The Knights turned the ball over a possible program-low four times (once in the second half) and forced LIU into 14 miscues. FDU outscored the Blackbirds, 20-5, on points off turnovers.

"To win at LIU has been virtually impossible in this league, but tonight the stars were alligned for our guys," Head Coach Greg Herenda said.

Senior Mathias Seilund (Dragoer, Denmark/Falkonergaardens Gymnasium) poured in a career-high 20 points (13 in the second half) on 9-of-11 shooting from the field, grabbed a team-high six rebounds and tied a career high in blocks with three.

Current Choice Hotels/NEC Rookie of the Week Matt MacDonald (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius) was on fire from behind the arc (5-of-7, career high) en route to scoring 19 points, while junior Mustafaa Jones (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) and freshman Jayde Dawson (Montreal, Quebec/Brooks School) added 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Sidney Sanders Jr. (Charleston, S.C./Burke) , who came into the contest averaging 20.4 points per game, was held to only four points, but he dished out a career-high 13 assists (tied for second most in a game in program history), grabbed five rebounds, tied a career high in steals with four and did not commit a turnover.

"To score 89 points and have only four turnovers is incredible," Herenda said. "Every player on our team scored. Mathias (Seilund) was a monster, and Sid (Sanders) had 13 assists and no turnovers."

LIU scored the first six points of the game and held a 14-9 advantage at the 15:59 mark of the first half, before the Knights answered with nine straight points, capped by a three-point play from sophomore Kyle Pearson (Woodbridge, N.J./Woodbridge), to give FDU an 18-14 lead.

The Blackbirds responded with five straight points to take their last lead of the game at 19-18 with 11:24 left in the first half.

With the scored tied at 21-21, a jumper from Jones triggered a 12-2 spurt by the Knights, as a three from MacDonald put FDU in front 33-23 with 5:28 remaining before halftime.

The Knights extended their lead out to 11 three times over the final 2:52, with the last occasion coming on a Jones' three-pointer that bounced off the front of the rim with four ticks left, which gave FDU a 42-31 lead at the break.

The Knights' 11-point lead quickly became 20 with a little over two minutes into the second half, as MacDonald and Seilund combined to go 3-of-3 from three-point range.

LIU quickly scored six straight to trim the deficit to 14, but FDU was even faster in responding with eight of its own, including six consecutive from Seilund to start the spurt, before a layup from Sanders Jr. produced a 59-37 lead for the Knights with 14:12 to go in the contest, capping a 38-16 run.

Freshman Scott Kingsley (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita of Cascia)'s three-pointer at the 8:00 mark gave FDU its largest lead of the game at 76-49. The Knights' advantage was never less than 19 the rest of the contest, which occurred for only 36 seconds.

The Blackbirds E.J. Reed, Troy Joseph and Iverson Felming all scored 12 points, with Joseph grabbing a game-high seven rebounds. Jason Brickman added eight points and eight assists.

"We just need to keep getting better on a daily basis, and we will continue to have success," Herenda said. "There is no other way."

FDU will have a quick turnaround when it hosts Bryant (2-1) for a conference contest on Saturday, Jan. 18. Tipoff at Stratis Arena is scheduled for 3 p.m.