Box Score

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team clinched its first Northeast Conference Tournament berth since 2010 after rallying to defeat Sacred Heart, 73-66, on Saturday afternoon inside Stratis Arena. With the victory, the Knights improve to 10-17 (6-7 NEC) on the season, while the Pioneers fall to 4-24 (1-12 NEC) overall.

"I am so happy that our players will now experience postseason play," Head Coach Greg Herenda said. "The only way to the NCAA Tournament is through the NEC Tournament, and we are in."

Senior Mathias Seilund (Dragoer, Denmark/Falkonergaardens Gymnasium) led a quintet of players in double figures for FDU with 13 points and a game-high three steals. Graduate student Scooter Gillette (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) (game-high three blocks) and senior Sidney Sanders Jr. (Charleston, S.C./Burke) each scored 11 points, while junior Mustafaa Jones (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) chipped in 10. Freshman Mike Owona (Baltimore, Md./The John Carroll School) paced the Knights on the glass with a career-high seven rebounds and Sanders dished out a game-high seven assists.

FDU trailed 31-28 at halftime after Sacred Heart closed out the first stanza on an 11-0 run over the final 4:33. Both sides also shot under 30 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes.

But it was the Knights' shooting in the second half that proved to be the difference. FDU shot 58.3 percent (14-of-24) from the field and knocked down 14-of-16 free throws en route to a 40.7 percent clip (22-of-54) from the floor and 23-of-30 at the line. The Knights defense held the Pioneers to 36.1 percent (22-of-61) shooting and held an eight-point advantage from the charity stripe.

"We got great help off the bench from our freshmen, especially Mike Owona (Baltimore, Md./The John Carroll School) on the glass and Scott Kingsley (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita of Cascia), who jump started us on the offensive end of the court," Herenda said.

At the 13:57 mark and FDU down one, a layup from Seilund triggered 10 unanswered points for the Knights, as the 12-1 run gave FDU its largest lead of the game at 52-42 with 11:06 remaining.

Sacred Heart fought back, scoring nine of the next 11 to trim the Knights' advantage to 54-51 with a little over seven minutes to go, but it was the closest the Pioneers would come.

Louis Montes paced the Pioneers with 19 points, while De'von Barnett added 18 points and seven rebounds. Mostafa Abdel Latif pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds.

"I just hope our students will cross the river and fill up the Rothman Center," Herenda said. "March is just around the corner, and we need our students and fans behind us and this building will rock."

The Knights will play their third game in five days when it hosts Wagner on Monday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. in a makeup contest from Winter Storm Pax, forcing the postponement of the game on Feb. 13. The second-place Seahawks came away victorious on Staten Island, N.Y., 75-68, on Feb. 6 in the previous matchup.