RIVERDALE, N.Y. - FDU men's basketball matched their Division I non-conference win total from a season ago Friday when the Knights (6-5, 0-0 NEC) topped Manhattan (4-5, 1-1 MAAC) 76-71 at Draddy Gymnasium.
The game's opening minutes were eventful as the two sides went point-for-point in the first four minutes resulting in a 9-9 deadlock early on. Junior forward
Ansley Almonor (Spring Valley, N.Y./St. Joseph Regional [Mont.]) pushed FDU in front 12-9 with his first three of the night. The reigning Northeast Conference Most Improved Player finished his outing with 24 points -- two shy of his career high of 26 -- on 8-16 shooting from the field with a trio of buckets from behind the arc.
Almonor wasn't alone in the first half as six Knights combined to score 18 points for FDU in the first 10 minutes of the non-league bout.
Manhattan heated up as the opening period progressed, erasing FDU's six-point lead with just under nine minutes to play to go up 19-18. It would be Almonor whose pair of made free throws put the Burgundy and Blue back in front.
The home Jaspers came out of the break with back-to-back threes to extend their three-point halftime lead to nine, leading to an FDU timeout. Out of the huddle, Almonor and graduate student guard
DeVante Jamison (Dorchester, Mass./Jeremiah E. Burke) scored a combined six points to chip away at the Jaspers' advantage.
"The halftime message was to stay the course," said head coach
Jack Castleberry after the game. "The one thing we've been trying to do better is to get defensive rebounds. We still didn't do a great job of that tonight but we've been trying to guard the ball more. It's a game of runs and tonight, our guys gave us the runs we needed."
"Bullet" [Jamison] would hit a clutch bucket late in the game to finish with 12 points in the FDU victory; he contributed eight dimes. Senior forward
Sean Moore (Columbus, Ohio) edged his second double-double of the campaign into the box score as the second-year Knight recorded 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The victory marks the end of a six-game road trip for FDU as the Knights have played away from Stratis Arena since Nov. 18 (20 days). FDU welcomes Columbia to Hackensack, N.J. on Monday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. ET live on NEC Front Row as the Knights celebrate Korean Heritage Night. The game will air live on NEC Front Row and the NEC on the Run app. Tickets are on-sale now at
FDUKnights.com/Tickets.
- With the win, FDU has won back-to-back on the road for the first time this season
- Almonor now has seven outings of 15 points or more this season
- Third game this season FDU held the opponent to under 40 points at halftime
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Bogota Savings Bank is the presenting sponsor for the 2023-24 FDU men's basketball season.
