HACKENSACK, N.J. – An enormous first-half performance propelled the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team to a wire-to-wire, 85-75 victory over Mount St. Mary's at Stratis Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Knights (6-15, 4-6 NEC) locked down the Mountaineers (9-13, 5-4 NEC) over the first 20 minutes, holding the opposition to six field goals and a season-low 17 first-half points.
FDU freshman guard
Devon Dunn registered the best game of his young career, scoring a career-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the victory. Six Knights scored in double figures including junior forward
Elyjah Williams who registered his second double-double of the campaign with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
"We played some really, really good defense today and our offense followed suit," said
Greg Herenda after the win. "That may have been one of the best halves that we have played in my seven years here. We had six players in double figures and shared the ball as well as we have done all year long."
The Knights, who led by as many as 34 points in the game, earn their second win in a row and improve to 4-3 inside the Rothman Center this season.
In addition to the aforementioned duo,
Jahlil Jenkins scored 14 points with six assists and four rebounds,
Xzavier Malone-Key scored 12 and
Kaleb Bishop and
Brandon Powell finished with 10 points apiece.
The Burgundy and Blue shot 54.9 percent overall and drained 10-of-17 from three-point range. They also enjoyed a 32-27 advantage on the glass.
Jalen Gibbs poured in 23 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, while Damian Chong Qui added 16 points for the Mount in the loss. After their dismal first-half shooting effort, the Mountaineers shot 52.9 percent in the second half.
Herenda continued, "When
Elyjah Williams plays like he did today, we are a very difficult team to beat. The bench was great tonight -- especially
Devon Dunn. Devon has the ability to really make our team hard to guard. We will need our bench as we move forward down the stretch."
Bishop and Jenkins each drained a 3-pointer as the Knights scored the first 10 points of the afternoon and led 10-2 at the first media timeout. The Burgundy and Blue would extend their cushion to 20-6 midway through the half thanks to a 9-for-13 start from the field. Over that span, the Mount hit just 3-of-13 overall, while missing all eight of their three-point attempts.
Back-to-back deep 3-pointers from each of the wings by Powell extended the lead to 20 for the first time, 28-8, with under six to play in the stanza. When the dust settled, the Knights' dominant first-half performance resulted in a 39-17 lead.
Malone-Key led all scorers with 10 points at the break as the Knights shot 60 percent overall and 60 percent from three-point range. Defensively, the Burgundy and Blue limited the visiting Mountaineers to just six made field goals on 24 tries.
Out of the break, the Knights picked up right where they left off as they scored the first nine points of the half and established a 48-19 lead prior to the first media timeout. Dunn went on a mini run of his own scoring eight straight points as the Knights ran away with the lead.
A layup by Bishop with 9:34 to play gave the Burgundy and Blue its largest lead of the contest, 67-33, before the Mountaineers fought back and sliced the deficit down 11 points before the final horn.
The Knights continue their homestand next Thursday, February 6 when they host Merrimack. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN3.
