Box Score

HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team advanced to the Northeast Conference Semifinals with a 74-72 victory over Saint Francis U on Wednesday night at Stratis Arena.  The Knights (16-14, 11-7 NEC) were led by sophomore Darian Anderson (Washington, D.C./St. John's College )'s game-high 22 points and a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double from sophomore Earl Potts Jr. (Severn, Md./Archbishop Spalding )

The win is FDU's first in the NEC Tournament since the 2005-06 season.

The Red Flash (13-17, 9-9 NEC) were led by a 21-point, 22-rebound performance by senior Ronnie Drinnon.

Trailing 71-68 with less than three minutes left to play, Anderson and Potts hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give FDU the lead for good.

"That game was a microcosm of our entire season - this team just finds a ways to win college basketball games," head coach Greg Herenda said after the game.  "The key tonight was having only three turnovers in a 40 minute battle. We obviously did not shoot the ball well but we took care of the ball and just kept grinding."
 
"I cannot say enough about Saint Francis U and their seniors.  (Ronnie) Drinnon was just incredible tonight - they are a first class program and we were very fortunate to beat them."

FDU and Saint Francis U went back and forth over the course of the game with the lead changing hands 10 times.

The Red Flash carried a 44-40 lead into halftime and maintained the advantage until the 13:18 mark of the second period when sophomore Stephan Jiggetts (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) connected on a three-pointer to put FDU in front 58-55.

The Knights held the lead for the next seven minutes until Saint Francis tied the game on free throws with 5:36 remaining.  FDU answered quickly with a three-point play by Jiggetts, but back-to-back three-pointers by SFU's Greg Brown and Malik Harmon put the Flash in front 71-68 with 4:07 left to play.

Anderson's tying and Potts go-ahead three-pointers were the only field goals made by either team in the final four minutes of the game.

Saint Francis U held a 32-24 advantage on points in the paint and held a strong edge (49-33) on the boards.  The Knights did their scoring on the perimeter with 36 of their 74 points coming on a season-high 12 made three-pointers.

The Knights shot 40% (28-of-70) from the field and 29.3% (12-of-41) from behind the arc.  Saint Francis was 23-of-54 (42.6%) and 25% (5-of-20) from long range.  The Red Flash also hit 21-of-29 attempts from the free throw line.

The Knights committed a season-low three turnovers, while forcing the Red Flash into 14.

Anderson's 22 points give him 12 career 20-point games.  The double-double for Potts was his team-high sixth of the season.  Anderson and Potts were both honored as All-NEC performers earlier in the week.

Sophomore Marques Towns and Jiggetts scored 10 and 12 points, respectively, to join their classmates in double-figures.

Anderson's stat line also included seven rebounds, three assists and three steals in 34 minutes of action.

The Knights 41 three-point attempts are the most in a game by an FDU team since at least the 2001-02 season.

For Saint Francis, Drinnon finished with a team-high 21 points and a game-high 22 rebounds.  Greg Brown scored 15 points and Ben Millaud-Meunier added 10.

"On a final note, I have to thank all of our fans but especially our student-athletes.  They were awesome - The Rothman Center came alive again and the crowd played a huge part in that victory.  Hopefully Saturday afternoon will be even crazier - it's March!"

The #2 Knights will host a NEC Tournament Semifinal on Saturday, March 5 at 2 p.m. FDU will play #5 seed Mount St. Mary's.  The Mountaineers defeated #4 St. Francis Brooklyn in a quarterfinal matchup.