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HACKENSACK, N.J. – Fairleigh Dickinson and Saint Francis U are playing for the second time in a week and this time the game is broadcast live on MSG and Fox College Sports with Dave Popkin (PxP), Tim Capstraw (Color) and Paul Dottino (Sideline) are calling the game with former Monmouth head coach Dave Calloway sitting in to lend his perspective to the action.  The Knights (7-14, 2-8 NEC) and Red Flash (12-9, 6-4 NEC) played last Saturday afternoon in a wild game that SFU won 68-63 in Loretto, Pa.

CHANCE TO WIN BEATS HEADPHONES OR GOPRO CAMERA
- Fans in attendance can "Tweet for Beats" with the best tweet about the game using #FDUvSFU winning Beats Headphones
- Fans in attendance can also win a GoPro Camera

GAME DETAILS
FDU (7-14, 2-8 NEC) vs. Saint Francis U (12-9, 6-4 NEC)
Where: Stratis Arena (1,852) - Hackensack, NJ
When: Thursday, February 5, 2015 –  9 p.m.
Series History: 84th meeting in the all-time series – SFU leads 42-41
First Meeting: Jan. 12, 1955 (L, 75-62)
Last Meeting: Jan. 31, 2015 (L, 68-63)
Last FDU Win: Jan. 12, 2013 (W, 79-69 OT)

The Last Time Out
The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team fell to Saint Francis U by a final score of 68-63 on Saturday afternoon at DeGol Arena.  The Knights grabbed a late lead on a three-pointer by freshman Marques Townes (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph (Metuchen)), but the Red Flash answered with a three-pointer by Malik Harmon and the sealed the victory at the free throw line.

Townes' three-pointer gave the Knights a 59-58 lead with 3:30 left to play.  The New Jersey native followed with a layup on the ensuing possession to put FDU up 61-58 with just 2:44 left in the game.

Saint Francis answered by hitting a pair of free throws and then, after stopping FDU, connecting on a three-pointer to take a 64-61 lead.  Inbounding the ball with 46 seconds left to play, the Knights were able to get to the basket with senior Mustafaa Jones (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) scoring on a layup, but FDU still trailed by a point, 64-63.

The Red Flash connected on their next four free throw attempts to go up 68-63 and then held on for the victory.

Townes finished with a team-high 15 points on an impressive six-of-eight shooting performance.   He also grabbed six rebounds in the game.  Freshman Darian Anderson (Washington, D.C./St. John's College ) finished with 14 points and posted team-highs with eight rebounds and six assists.  His eight rebounds are a career-high.  Jones also reached double-digits with 10 points.

Notes on the Knights
Youth Shall Lead Them:  Of the 1408 points the Knights have scored this season, 63.7% (898) has come from players that are either sophomores or freshmen.  Also notable is that more than 51.1% of the Knight's total offense has come from four underclassmen.  Darian Anderson (Washington, D.C./St. John's College ) leads the way as the team's second leading scorer with 234 points along with Marques Townes (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph (Metuchen)) (194 points - 3rd on the team) Matt MacDonald (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius) (185 pts. - 4th) and Earl Potts, Jr. (106 pts. - 6th on team).

FDU's Youth:  The Knights' roster this season has featured nine freshmen and sophomores.  FDU's rotation is also young with 2,751 of the team's 4,250 minutes being played by freshmen and sophomores, which is 64.7% of the team's minutes.

Comeback Kids: The Knights have seven victories this season and many have featured a comeback. The Knights opened the season by knocking off St. Joe's on a go-ahead buzzer beater by Philadelphia native Mustafaa Jones (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti).  FDU's next comeback trick came against Princeton when the Knights erased an 11-point deficit with 15:42 left to play by scoring 64 second half points in an 89-85 victory.  Against Delaware, FDU overcame an 8-point deficit with 3:04 left to win 76-74.  The Knights final non-conference win came against Towson, which included the Tigers taking a 16-point lead early in the second half, but the resilient Knights battled back and won 85-84 in overtime.  The Knights also faced second half deficits in their two NEC victories over Central Connecticut and LIU Brooklyn.

Early NEC Success for Townes: Freshman Marques Townes (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph (Metuchen)) has 10 Northeast Conference games under his belt, but the New Jersey native is playing like a veteran averaging 12.1 points per game in league play.  Townes has scored in double-digits five times and has three games with nine points.  His shooting has been fantastic against NEC foes as he is connecting on 60.0% of his field goal attempts and seven of his 11 three pointers this season have come against conference foes.

Up Next
What's On Tap – After tonight's game the Knights host Robert Morris (Feb. 7) and Bryant (Feb. 12) at Stratis Arena before trips to Wagner (Feb. 14), St. Francis Brooklyn (Feb. 19) and Mount St. Mary's (Feb. 21).  The regular season concludes with home games against Sacred Heart (Feb. 26) and Central Connecticut (Feb. 28).  The February 28 game against CCSU will also serve as senior day for the FDU men's basketball Class of 2015.