Box Score Hackensack, NJ - The Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson University moved to 2-0 on the season with a 102-61 victory over the FDU-Florham Devils, this evening in the Stratis Arena on the Metropolitan Campus of FDU. The victory marks the first time since the 2002-03 season that the Knights open the year with a 2-0 mark while the Devils fall to 0-1 on the young season.
"The score is not indicative of the game," said Knights second year head coach
Greg Herenda, "The credit goes to my players in the second half. They made the adjustments and played very hard on both ends of the floor."
The Knights took a 15-point lead (53-38) into halftime bolstered by a 16-point performance from sophomore
Matt MacDonald (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius) and a 15-point effort by freshman
Darian Anderson (Washington, D.C./St. John's College ). MacDonald went a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, including four treys, before finally missing a three-point attempt early in the second half. Anderson missed a double-double by just one assist.
Over the final twenty minutes, the Knights held the Devils to 25 percent shooting from the floor (9-of-36) and 18 percent (5-of-14) from beyond the arc.
The Knights, leading 76-56 with 8 minutes left to play, closed out the game on a 26-5 run.
In addition to MacDonald and Anderson, who each finished the night with 18 points, the Knights received double-digit scoring performances from senior guard
Mustafaa Jones (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) (18), freshman guard
Marques Townes (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph (Metuchen)) (14) and junior forward
Xavier Harris (Philadelphia, Pa./Constitution) (12). Harris also logged a game-high seven rebounds.
It was just the seventh time in program history in which FDU has eclipsed the century mark and first since 2005 against St. Francis Brooklyn.
The Devils were led by Kevin Furlong (Hazlet, NJ) who shot 50% from the floor (7-of-14) and scored a game-high 19 points. Donte Alli (Willingboro, NJ) and Steve Herdman (South Amboy, NJ) rounded out the Devil's double-figure scorers with 13 and 11, respectively.
The Knights return to action on Wednesday night, Nov. 19, as they head down the Turnpike to take on Rutgers. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. FDUKnights.com and @FDUKnights will have links to a live radio broadcast.
