Box Score
Hackensack, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team dropped a Northeast Conference contest to Mount St. Mary's on Thursday night at Stratis Arena inside the Rothman Center.  The Knights (7-9, 2-3 NEC) were unable to overcome a double-digit first half deficit and fell to the Mountaineers (7-9, 3-2 NEC) by a final score of 71-51.

Freshman Marques Townes (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph (Metuchen)) led the Knights with 17 points and sophomore Malachi Nix (Evanston, Ill./Niles North) scored a career-high 15.  Townes and Nix each scored 15 points in the second half, combining for 30 of FDU's 36 after the break.  The duo also helped the Knights' bench total 44 points in the contest.

"Obviously, we are not getting out to great starts and to be honest with you I'm not sure why?  We have won tough games on the road and in this building, so I really don't have any definitive answers," head coach Greg Herenda said after the game.  "The one thing I do know is that we will turn it around and learn from this tough stretch.  The great thing about college basketball is that we can come out Saturday and redeem ourselves."

The Knights trailed 33-15 at the half and fell behind by 23 points just 89 seconds into the second half.  Six straight points from Nix cut the deficit to 38-21 and sparked a 19-6 run leading into the second media time out.

The run cut Mount's lead to just 10 points for the first time since the 7:47 mark of the first half.

A three-pointer by Nix coming out of the time out cut Mount's lead to 44-37 and capped the Knight's 22-6 run.  Nix and Townes did all of the scoring for FDU during the stretch with each player accounting for 11 points.

However, after the Knights cut Mount's advantage to seven, the Mountaineers quickly answered with nine consecutive points to reestablish a double-digit lead.

"Malachi Nix (Evanston, Ill./Niles North) really showed some toughness and leadership tonight with what he did in the second half. I thought Scott Kingsley (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita of Cascia) stepped up today and Marques Townes (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph (Metuchen)) has probably been giving us the most consistent minutes for a while now," Herenda added.

Nix finished the game 4-of-6 from the field and 3-of-3 from behind the arc.  Townes was also efficient shooting the ball connecting on 8-of-11 from the floor and 1-of-2 from three.
The Knights shot 33.3% (18-54) from the field and connected on just 4-of-19 three-point attempts.  FDU was 4-of-9 from behind the arc in the second half after failing to connect on a three in the first period.
Mount shot 41.7% (20-48) from the floor and was 26.3% (5-19) from long range in the contest.

Both teams were excellent at the free throw line with the Mount connecting on 26-of-31 (83.9%) and the Knights 11-of-13 (84.6%).

Graduate student Darius Stokes (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) led the Knights with eight rebounds in 16 minutes of action.  Junior Xavier Harris (Philadelphia, Pa./Constitution) was also strong on the glass with six rebounds.

Gregory Graves led the Mountaineers with 21 points and 10 rebounds.  Teammate Bryon Ashe also contributed 21 points, with his coming on 8-of-12 shooting and 4-of-8 from behind the arc.

The Mountaineers held a 37-30 edge in rebounding.

The Knights return to action on Saturday afternoon as the Wagner Seahawks visit the Rothman Center.  Tip-off for the men's game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.  The FDU and Wagner women's basketball teams will also play on Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m.