LORETTO, Pa. - FDU men's basketball (8-11, 2-2 NEC) hit four of its final nine attempts Monday to seal the deal on a Martin Luther King Jr. Day win at Saint Francis U as the Knights moved to 2-2 in NEC playing following the 81-71 victory.
Senior forward
Sean Moore (Columbus, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) led the way for FDU with a career-high 23 points, shooting 10-for-19 from the field with eight rebounds.
Freshman guard
Terrence Brown also set a new benchmark as the Minneapolis, Minn. native posted 17 points in the scoring column with a pair of steals.
"It's great to win a league game on the road," said Castleberry following the effort. "Every single person who played tonight contributed. I'm incredibly proud of our guys tonight and we've played three games since Wednesday so I thought the odds were a little bit against us as far as who has the fresher legs as we both played a game on Saturday. Our press wasn't as crisp or intense as we'd like it to be but we figured out a way to get the win."
Brown scored all four of FDU's first points of the game, starting the affair with a trio of free throw tries following a foul whistled on his opening attempt from behind the arc.
Saint Francis U's triple heated up early as the Red Flash scored from distance six times in the opening period as they'd take a four-point lead in the first half, their largest of the game.
The two sides scored a combined eight points in just over 45 seconds after the under-16 mark in the opening act though the Red Flash would head into the timeout on a 6-0 run to take the aforementioned lead early. Back-to-back dunks from Moore would level the score at 17 and another bucket from Moore minutes later would put the Burgundy and Blue in front by a pair.
FDU's starters did the job in the opening period as the Knights went without any bench points in the first 20. Moore posted 17 points in the opening period only as he closed-in on the carer best.
Jack Castleberry's Knights went an even 50 percent from the field (15-30) and three-point land (4-8) at the break as FDU went into the locker room with a two-point lead.
The second half was a marathon but FDU would hold the Red Flash comeback effort at bay as the home squad would take a brief lead just minutes into the second half. Junior forward
Ansley Almonor (Spring Valley, N.Y./St. Joseph Regional [Mont.]) posted five of FDU's opening second half points as the Knights turned Saint Francis U over three times in the first five minutes of the period.
Senior guard
Joe Munden Jr. (Harlem, N.Y./Monsignor Scanlan) would all but put the game away with a jumper to give FDU a nine-point lead with 4:37 remaining in regulation.
"It was great to see Joe make a big shot late," Castleberry added. "He contributed at a high level tonight."
The Knights emphasized defensive rebounding heading into the contest and surely understood the assignment as FDU nabbed 26 caroms on the defensive end.
Almonor blocked two shots in the bout which tied the Knights' season high (Brown).
After a few days' rest, FDU returns to action on Friday, Jan. 19 at 5 p.m. ET as the Knights head to Stonehill to wrap-up the regular season series with the Skyhawks live nationwide on CBS Sports Network.
- Two Knights set scoring career-highs in Moore (23) and Brown (17)
- Sophomore guard Brayden Reynolds (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) tied his career best in rebounds with six
- FDU has played in three games since Wednesday, Jan. 10. The Knights are 2-1 in that stretch
- After Friday's game at Stonehill, the Knights settle in for four-straight at home
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Bogota Savings Bank is the presenting sponsor for the 2023-24 FDU men's basketball season.
