Box Score

DAYTON, Ohio – The 2016 Northeast Conference Champion Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team fell to Florida Gulf Coast in the opening game of the NCAA Tournament First Four on Tuesday night.  The #16 seed Knights (18-15) were unable to overcome a slow first half and fell to the #16 seed Eagles (21-13), 96-65.  FGCU advances to play East Region #1 seed North Carolina on Thursday.

FGCU opened the game with a dunk on its opening possession and eventually took an 11-0 lead over before sophomore Earl Potts Jr. (Severn, Md./Archbishop Spalding ) connected on a three-pointer with 16:40 left in the half to score FDU's first points.  The Eagles extended their lead to 21 points late in the half and finished the period with a 40-19 advantage.

The Knights scored a season-low 19 points in the first half and shot just 21.4% (6-of-28) for the period.

"All the credit goes to Florida Gulf Coast - they played great from the start and separated from us early in the game," head coach Greg Herenda said after the game.  "They were big, long, quick and good - congratulations to them moving on."
 
"It really stings right now, but we had a historic year with a tremendously bright future ahead.  I am so proud of this team and what they have accomplished.  We are champions on and off the floor.  We accomplished so much this year and there is no question that the best is yet to come."

FDU came out strong to start the second half and cut the deficit to 15-point with back-to-back three pointers by Potts and sophomore Darian Anderson (Washington, D.C./St. John's College ).

With 17:09 left in the game the Knights looked to be gaining momentum as Anderson lobbed pass toward the rim that Potts Jr. slammed home.  Potts followed with a three-pointer on the ensuing FDU possession to make it a 48-32 game with 15:50 left to play.

FGCU answered and pushed its lead back to 20+ points with 13:33 left to play.  The Eagles maintained at least a 20-point lead for the remainder of the game.

The Knights shot 37.5% (6-of-16) from three in the second half and finished the game shooting 32.9% (23-of-70) from the field and 34.8% (8-of-23) from long range.

FGCU shot 59.6% (34-of-57) from the floor and 34.8% (8-of-23) from beyond the arc, but just 58.8% (20-of-34) at the free throw line.

The FDU defense forced the Eagles into 18 turnovers, including nine steals by the Knights.

FGCU held a 52-33 advantage on the boards and a 44-24 edge in points in the paint.

Potts finished with 16 points and eight rebounds to lead FDU in both categories.  He shared the lead in rebound with Anderson who posted 11 points, eight boards, five assists, two steals and a block in 31 minutes of action.  Sophomore Marques Townes (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph (Metuchen)) joined his classmates in double figures with 13 points.  He also had three assists and a steal.

The Knights finish the 2015-16 with 18 wins, which rank as the most in a season for the program since the 2005-06 season.  The Knights 11 NEC victories were also a high for the program since the 2005-06 season.

FDU's NEC Tournament Championship was the program's first since 2005 and the NCAA Tournament berth was also the first since 2005.  The team improved its win total from 2014-15 to 2015-15 by 10 victories.

Anderson averaging 15.2 points per game and with 503 total points.