Box Score HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team earned a wild 101-95 victory over LIU Brooklyn on Thursday night. The Knights (9-9, 5-2 NEC) overcame a 12-point halftime deficit with a 62-point second half that featured sophomore
Darian Anderson (Washington, D.C./St. John's College ) scoring 28 points after intermission.
Anderson finished the game with a career-high 32 points. He also had a team-high nine rebounds and added five steals.
The Blackbirds fall to 9-9 on the season and 3-4 in the Northeast Conference with the loss. Joel Hernandez had a 27-point, 10-rebound double-double for LIU.
Trailing 70-60 with 11:01 left to play, the Knights pressure defense sparked a 15-0 run that gave FDU a 75-70 lead. The run featured eight points from freshman
Darnell Edge (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties), who scored twice after recording a steal.
"That's how we practice every day. These guys are clearly not perfect, but perseverance is definitely in their DNA," head coach
Greg Herenda said after the game.
"That was like Princeton all over again," Herenda said referencing last season's 64-point second half against the Tigers, "That second half was really, really special.
Darian Anderson (Washington, D.C./St. John's College ) scoring 28 in a half brought back images of Sid Sanders. He was incredible, but so was
Darnell Edge (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties) and the rest of our freshmen. All the credit goes to our players' work ethic and resolve. That was one for the ages but we still have a ton of work to do."
Anderson's 32 points led five Knights in double figures with Stephan Jiggets (20),
Marques Townes (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph (Metuchen)) (15),
Mike Holloway (Pittsgrove, N.J./Arthur P. Schalick ) (10) and Edge (10) also reaching double-digits.
Despite a 62.5% (15-of-24) shooting performance from the Knights, LIU Brooklyn held a 51-41 lead at the half. The Blackbirds shot 50% (17-of-34) from the floor and connected on eight three-pointers in the period.
In the second half, LIU built its lead to 14 points on two occasions and maintained a double-digit lead for the first seven minutes of the period. The Knights cut the deficit to single-digits on two occasions, but each time LIU went back up by at least 10 points. The Knights final broke through and retook the lead with 15-0 run.
The teams would trade the lead two more times and be tied once over the final six minutes, but neither team would manage more than a two-possession lead until Anderson hit a three-pointer to put FDU in front 95-88 with a minute left in regulation.
LIU cut FDU's lead to four points twice in the final minute, but Anderson kept the Knights in front with six made free throws in the final 45 seconds.
His 32 points are a career-high, surpassing his previous high of 27, which he set February against Sacred Heart. His 32 points are also the most by an FDU player since Sydney Sanders Jr. dropped in 32 against Mount St. Mary's on January 9, 2014.
As a team, FDU finished the day shooting 58.6% (34-of-58) from the floor, 42.1% (8-of-19) from beyond the arc and 78.1% (25-of-32) at the free throw line. LIU was 51.6% (32-of-62) from the field, 47.8% (11-of-23) from long range and 83.3% (20-of-24).
Both teams grabbed 30 rebounds, but FDU committed 14 turnovers to the Blackbirds 19.
With the victory by FDU and a loss by Mount St. Mary's, the Knights are now tied for first place in the NEC at 5-2.
The game was the highest scoring NEC contest since Bryant beat Quinnipiac 103-95 on January 10, 2013.
It was also FDU's first time scoring 100 points against a Division I opponent since February 21, 2005. The Knights lost that night to St. Francis Brooklyn, 110-103.
The 62 points in the second half are the most in a period by FDU against a Division I opponent since scoring 64 in the second half of a comeback victory against Princeton last season.
The Knights will return to action on Saturday, January 21 against Mount St. Mary's. The game is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. tip-off and can be seen live on NECFrontRow.com.
