MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – FDU men's basketball fell to Jacksonville 91-90 Saturday in the Knights' first game of the Urban-Bennett Memorial Classic, hosted by Robert Morris, at the UPMC Events Center.
Ansley Almonor paced all scorers with a career-best 26 points on 11-for-20 shooting from the field – his 23rd game as a Knight with 15 or points.
Jacksonville came out early with a trio of threes in the first six minutes with Jarius Cook etching nine points out of the gate for the Dolphins. The Knights found themselves in a hole at the first media timeout of the game, a 19-4 scoring run for Jacksonville.
FDU went down 15 before sophomore forward and Pittsburgh, Pa. native
Brayden Reynolds (Chartiers Valley) answered back in his hometown with a catch-and-shoot three from senior
Heru Bligen (Glenn Dale, Md./St. Andrew's Episcopal) to put the Knights within 12. Junior forward
Ansley Almonor (Spring Valley, N.Y./St. Joseph's Regional [Mont.]) followed up the bucket with a triple of his own, followed by a
Terrence Brown (Minneapolis, Minn./Columbia Heights) floater on the strip and steal by
Sean Moore (Columbus, Ohio/Reynoldsburg).
Brown would make his first career start for FDU in the game.
Momentum shifted the Knights' way as the squad cut Jacksonville's lead to five with Moore's first three of three made goals from behind the arc. Almonor was first to double figures in the game with 11 points in his first 12 minutes.
With 4:22 to play, graduate student guard
DeVante Jamison pulled off what looked to be a one-man fast break as the man named 'Bullet' raced down the floor, going 94 feet to the cup and laid it in while also picking up the whistle, forcing a Jacksonville timeout.
The two sides stayed within 10 down the back half of the opening period, the second-straight game in which FDU trailed at the half.
Moore entered the halftime locker room a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc with five rebounds as he and Almonor accounted for 29 of FDU's 45 first half points.
FDU came out of the break cold, shooting 0-for-3 from the field, but chipped away to come within six with just over 13 minutes to play in regulation.
FDU had three stretches of 1:30 or longer in which they did not score in the second, though that would be out lived as the Knights would tie things up at 81 with over two minutes to play, courtesy of Almonor.
The Knights opened up a pair of crucial runs, fueled by Almonor, Moore, Emanuel and Jamison.
Emanuel hit a pair of free throws to give FDU their first lead since 18:42 of the first half.
A few ticky-tack fouls sent Jacksonville to the line for four free throws in the last two minutes as the Dolphins would retake the lead, 86-84, with just under 90 seconds to go in regulation.
FDU would trail by a single point with 16.3 seconds remaining after a three-pointer by Jamison off the dish from Moore. Two free throw makes would seal the deal for Jacksonville as they'd finish 2-0 in the Urban-Bennett Memorial Classic after defeating Robert Morris the day before.
The Burgundy and Blue held Jacksonville to just two offensive rebounds in the final 20 minutes.
The Knights have a quick turnaround as FDU faces the Colonials tomorrow at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ to close-out Feast Week.
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Bogota Savings Bank is the presenting sponsor for the 2023-24 FDU men's basketball season.
