BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team overcame a 19-point second-half deficit to take a lead in the final seconds before ultimately falling 73-72 to fourth-seeded LIU in the NEC Tournament Quarterfinals on Wednesday night.
Postgame Press Conference (FDU 5:35 mark)
Over the final 13 minutes, the fifth-seeded, defending champion Knights (11-19) mounted the colossal comeback and went in front after junior forward
Elyjah Williams completed a three-point play with 22 seconds to go.
After the Knights stopped the Sharks' initial attempt, the home team regained possession with an offensive rebound with eight seconds to go. On the ensuing play, Julian Batts came off of a screen and banked home a game-winning, driving runner with 0.8 remaining. The Knights attempted a full-court, desperation heave but were unable to connect as the final horn sounded.
Despite playing just 24 minutes due to foul trouble, Williams amassed a 21-point, 12-rebound double-double. The Evanston, Illinois native notched the career-high point total on an efficient 8-of-11 from the field.
"That was an incredible comeback -- our guys were just so resilient but we came up one stop short," said
Greg Herenda following the game. "I am just so proud of Kaleb. Kaleb played through pain for 35 minutes and laid everything he had on the floor tonight. I am going to miss him so much."
Four Knights reached double figures including redshirt junior guard
Xzavier Malone-Key with 14 points, freshman guard
Devon Dunn with 11 and junior guard
Jahlil Jenkins with 10. The All-NEC Second Team honoree Jenkins also dished out six assists and grabbed five steals in the loss.
The Knights struggled from three-point range, making just 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) including 2-of-13 in the opening stanza. Dunn was responsible for three of the team's five made trifectas.
Tyrn Flowers scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half to lead the Sharks (15-17) in the victory, while Raiquan Clark tallied 19 points, five rebounds and four assists. After hitting 6-of-12 from deep in the first half, the Sharks made just 1-of-12 in the second but still managed to shoot 50 percent overall.
"When it is all said and done, Flowers and Clark were next to perfect in the first half and getting down by 15 in that building is a very steep hill to climb," Herenda concluded. "To our credit, we climbed that hill one step at a time and took the lead but the game lasted 0.8 seconds too long. My guys have a lot of heart and a lot of fight in them. I am a very proud coach."
The Knights led 13-9 in the early going after Malone-Key canned a jumper prior to the second media timeout but the Sharks red-hot shooting quickly erased the advantage.
A two-minute scoreless drought by the Knights saw the Sharks rattle off 11 straight points to build their first double-digit lead, 39-27, with 2:28 to play in the opening half. Malone-Key ended the scoreless stretch for the Burgundy and Blue but Jermaine Jackson Jr. answered with a three-pointer for the host Sharks, who carried a 44-29 lead into halftime.
Williams paced the Knights with 11 points in the stanza, while Malone-Key added eight. The Knights shot 38 percent overall and made just 2-of-13 (15 percent) from three-point range, with the freshman Dunn draining both from behind the arc.
Flowers hit seven of his first eight shots to lead all scorers at the break with 17 points and spearheaded the Sharks to a 60.7 percent first-half shooting clip.
The Sharks' lead would reach 19 points, 55-36, with 13:26 to go before the Knights mounted a comeback. A two-handed slam by Bishop highlighted a 9-0 FDU run, which trimmed the deficit down to 10 with under 10 to play.
Dunn's third trifecta of the night made it a single-digit game but the Sharks answered right back and rebuilt the lead to 13, 65-52, with 6:15 to go.
The Knights would again claw back to single digits and pulled to within seven, after Williams drained a pair at the line, 69-62 with 3:15 remaining in regulation. After each team registered defensive stops, Clark completed a three-point play for the Sharks.
Trailing by nine with 2:26 remaining, layups by Williams and
Brandon Powell sandwiched a Jenkins three-pointer, which made it a two-point game with 1:03 left. After a defensive stop, Williams drove the hoop and finished through contact to tie and eventually give the Knights the edge.
The Burgundy and Blue's relentless effort equated to a 17-4 run and a 72-71 lead. Williams scored seven points over the course of the spurt as the Knights held the Sharks to 1-of-6 from the field.
Senior forward
Kaleb Bishop, who scored eight points and corralled 12 rebounds, concludes his illustrious career with the Knights ranked seventh all-time with 749 boards and 22
nd in scoring with 1,110 points.
