Box Score

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team let a double-digit second-half lead slip away before falling in overtime to Central Connecticut State, 91-86, on Saturday at Detrick Gymnasium in a nationally-televised Northeast Conference matchup. With the victory, the Blue Devils improve to 7-16 (3-7 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 8-16 (4-6 NEC) overall.

Trailing 89-86 in overtime, junior Mustafaa Jones (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti)' three-point tying shot missed with six ticks left, and the home team was able to finally corral the rebound and seal the game with 0.5 seconds to go.

"That was a difficult pill to swallow, but Central Connecticut did the same thing to Robert Morris last week," Head Coach Greg Herenda said. "Any team coached by Howie Dickenman is never out of a game. I have so much respect for him and his program."

FDU, who trailed by as many as eight in the first half, used a 25-5 run that started on senior Sidney Sanders Jr. (Charleston, S.C./Burke) 's buzzer-beater at the end of the opening 20 minutes and ended on a pair of free throws from sophomore Xavier Harris (Philadelphia, Pa./Constitution), which gave the Knights a 64-49 advantage with 14:15 remaining in regulation.

At the 4:52 mark, FDU still led by 12 after a pair of free throws from Sanders Jr, which extended the cushion to 77-65, before CCSU would score 12 unanswered to tie the contest at 77-77 with 3:05 to go.

Sanders Jr. would position the Knights back into the lead at 81-79 with two more free throws with 2:04 left, but the Blue Devils' leading scorer, Kyle Vinales, who was playing his first game after missing the last nine with an injury, came back and knotted the game at 81.

FDU had a couple of chances to take the lead over the final 90 seconds and came up empty, but its defense at the end of regulation on Vinales prevented CCSU from winning.

In the extra period the Blue Devils went ahead 86-83 on a Vinales trey ball and had chances to extend the lead but failed. With 1:17 remaining, Jones knocked down his career-high seventh three-pointer to tie the game for the eighth time.

CCSU, who missed four free throws in overtime, converted 1-of-2 at the 1:04 mark to retake the lead at 87-86. The Knights then missed a chance to take the lead, but missed a shot in traffic before fouling out.

But the Blue Devils still gave FDU hope after another 1-for-2 trip at the charity stripe. However, the Knights, down 88-86, turned the ball over with 30 seconds left.

For a third straight time, the Blue Devils split their free throw chances, allowing FDU to tie the game down 89-86 with 24 seconds left before falling short.

Sanders Jr. scored 18 of his game-high 30 points after halftime to lead all scorers. He also dished out six assists and tied a career high in steals with five. Jones tied a career high with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from long distance, while graduate student Scooter Gillette (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) added a career-high 18 points on 7-of-7 from the field, team highs of seven rebounds and two blocks, and three steals.

Both sides shot well over 50 percent in the first half, with CCSU finishing the first 20 minutes at 57.7 percent after making its first nine field goal attempts. The Knights kept pace at 53.6 percent and knocked down 6-of-13 from behind the arc.

But the home team would shoot a blistering 66.7 percent over the final 25 minutes to finish the game at 62.3 percent (33-of-53), including 8-of-14 from three-point range.

FDU connected at a 47.5 percent clip (29-of-61) and made 12-of-26 from downtown, but made only 16-of-26 free throws, with seven misses coming in the opening half.

Both sides combined for 41 turnovers (FDU 20), and the Knights won the rebounding battle, 32-29.

Faronte Drakeford led the Blue Devils with 25 points and eight rebounds. Vinales added 20 points and seven assists, while Malcom McMillan and Brandon Peel chipped in 18 and 10 points, respectively.

"Now we need to go home and hold serve," Herenda said. "I just hope our students turn out to get behind us. We will be tough to beat at Stratis Arena."

FDU will finally return home to Stratis Arena on Thursday, Feb. 13 when it hosts Wagner for a 7 p.m. NEC contest. The Seahawks beat the Knights, 75-68, two days ago.