Box Score HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team battled back from a 15 point deficit to tie the game against the preseason Northeast Conference favorites but fell short, 78-69, at home to St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday night. With the win, the Terriers improve to 9-7 (3-0 NEC) on the season and move into sole possession of first place in the NEC, while the Knights fall to 7-7 (2-1 NEC) overall.
"We got beat by a very good team that is very well coached. We let them get way too far ahead. We came back once again but could not finish the job." Head Coach
Greg Herenda said, "We guarded so hard in the second half and held Jalen Cannon to only one field goal but they made some critical threes that really hurt."
Freshman Earl Potts, Jr. got the game started with a layup but it would be the last time that FDU held a lead in the contest. The visitors went on a quick 12-4 run to open the game and heading into a media timeout.
FDU, behind five points from
Marques Townes (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph (Metuchen)) and four from substitute
Xavier Harris (Philadelphia, Pa./Constitution), went on a 9-3 run to cut the deficit to two, 15-13. St. Francis Brooklyn turned the offensive tempo back up and closed out the period on a 32-19 sprint.
Cannon, a preseason NEC First-Teamer, finished the first half with 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting, one three, and four makes from the charity stripe.
Sophomore co-captain
Matt MacDonald (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius), held to zero points in the first stanza, hit two big threes on either side of a Harris dunk to spark a run that got the home crowd faithful to its feet. Harris added two freebies and senior co-captain
Mustafaa Jones (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) drained a long range trey to cut the deficit to two and cap a 17-4 run to open the second period.
Cannon temporarily stopped the bleeding with a tip-in at the 13:18 mark, his only field goal of the second half, but layups from freshman
Darian Anderson (Washington, D.C./St. John's College ) and Stephon Jiggets tied the score up at 56 with just under 10 minutes to play.
Coming out of a timeout, St. Francis Brooklyn's Antonio Jenifer hit a three to retake the lead for the final time. Moments later, Jones saw a three-point effort that would've tied the game up again rattle in and out, and Jenifer drilled a dagger three on the other side of the court.
Jenifer would score all 11 of his points in the second half including a third long-range make.
Harris and Jones shared team-high honors with 12 points each. Harris double-doubled for the first time in his career by adding 10 rebounds in just 23 minutes.
Cannon finished with a game-high 19 points and nine rebounds while playing a game-high 39 minutes.
"We will bounce back tomorrow at practice and be ready to turn around quickly and travel up to Rhode Island." Herenda said.
The Knights are on the road Saturday, Jan. 10, to face Bryant in the second game of a doubleheader with the FDU and Bryant women's teams. Tipoff for the men is slated for 4 p.m. NEC Front Row will carry live video coverage.
