Box Score BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y. - The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team fell to St. Francis Brooklyn by a score of 70-54 on Thursday night at the Pope Physical Education Center in Brooklyn Heights, New York. The first place Terriers (19-8, 13-2 NEC) pulled away late in the first half and were able to hold off the Knights (7-19, 2-13 NEC) in the second half.
St. Francis Brooklyn's Jalen Cannon led all players with 27 points and 15 rebounds.
"That's a very good basketball team, which has great experience and is very well coached. I am happy for Glenn and Ronnie – they built this from the ground up," head coach
Greg Herenda said after the game. "My guys never gave up and played every possession, but we just couldn't match up to them inside."
Freshman
Earl Potts Jr. (Severn, Md./Archbishop Spalding ) led the Knights with 16 points and six rebounds. Classmate
Darian Anderson (Washington, D.C./St. John's College ) also scored in double-digits with 10 points.
"Earl (Potts) and Darian (Anderson) are growing up quick," Herenda added. "I think we have had a freshman lead us in scoring each game for the last month or so. These guys will grow into winners as their careers move along here at FDU."
Both teams opened the game shooting well and the score was 13-12 in favor of St. Francis by the first media timeout. The Terriers would hold the lead until the 7:50 mark when senior
Mustafaa Jones (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) would connect on a pull-up jumper in the lane to give FDU a 22-21 advantage.
However, following Jones' bucket the Terriers would control the remainder of the half, closing with a 12-4 run.
Cannon posted 10 points and eight rebounds in the first half for St. Francis.
Potts Jr. dropped in 10 points in the first half on four-of-seven shooting. He also grabbed five rebounds in a team-high 19 minutes of action.
The Knights shot 37.7% (20-53) from the floor and 35.7% (5-14) from beyond the arc. SFBK was 38.5% (25-65) from the field and 16.7% (4-24) from long range. FDU was 9-of-14 at the line and the Terriers were 16-of-23 at the stripe.
St. Francis held a commanding 57-24 advantage on the boards.
The Knights were eliminated from NEC Tournament contention with the loss.
FDU will close the season with a trip to Mount St. Mary's (Feb. 21) and then home games against Sacred Heart (Feb. 26) and CCSU (Feb. 28).
