HACKENSACK, N.J. - Playing in front of their home crowd for the first time in 2024, FDU men's basketball (6-9, 0-2 NEC) welcomed the Le Moyne Dolphins (6-9, 1-0 NEC) to Stratis Arena Saturday in the second Northeast Conference game for FDU and the first-ever for Le Moyne.

The Dolphins head back to Western New York victorious, following a 74-63 win over the Knights, the first-ever NEC win for the nine-team league's newest member, while the Knights drop their fifth-straight.

FDU was without senior guard Joe Munden Jr. (Harlem, N.Y./Monsignor Scanlan) following an injury sustained in the conference opener at Merrimack on Jan. 4.

Senior forward Sean Moore (Columbus, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) finished with his fourth double-double of the season posting 20 points -- one shy of his career high -- and 12 rebounds, a new personal best.

"It's really good to see Fuzz [Moore] play at a high level consistently," said head coach Jack Castleberry following the game. "You could tell that he was locked in before the game started and he was that way the whole afternoon.

"We were a downhill at the start of the year but we've gotten away from that," added the Knights' first-year leader. "Having Joe Munden out certainly hurts, but the reality is we have a lot of guys who can get downhill and we settled a lot tonight. They [Le Moyne] made plays and we didn't have answered. Got to hit those open shots."

FDU put on a shooting clinic in the opening act with junior Ansley Almonor (Spring Valley, N.Y./St. Joseph Regional [Mont.]) and Moore (erasing an early 2-0 deficit for the Knights as the duo of forwards knocked down a pair of triples. The Knights' signature press was immaculate in the opening 4:13 as FDU forced three Le Moyne turnovers in the first three-plus minutes of play.

Le Moyne would go up 13-12 following six unanswered points before sophomore forward Jo'el Emanuel (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) hit a pair of free throws put the Knights back up one.

Moore would continue to cook on his home hardwood as he crashed the glass for three boards with a trio of points at the under-12 electronic-media timeout.

FDU went a near-perfect 8-for-9 from the free throw line in the opening half as the Knights a one-point lead (34-33) at the intermission.

The halftime box score reflected the Knights' defense kicking into gear with six steals, eight points off turnovers while the Knights grabbed 12 caroms on the defensive end to hold the Dolphins to only four offensive boards in the first 20 minutes. The first half featured nine lead changes.

Coming out of the break, FDU hit 4-5 from the field in the first fives minutes with 'Fuzz' [Moore] fueling a 6-0 run in that stretch out of the gate.

Out-scoring Le Moyne 25-18 after the first nine ticks of the second, Le Moyne's zone created a 16-0 scoring run that would bring them up six with 7:23 remaining.

FDU went 1-8 from the field in the final minutes of the game.

Le Moyne's 74 points are just shy of their season average of 73.9.

Kaiyem Cleary led the Dolphins with 23 points and a team-leading eight rebounds (five defensive). Le Moyne's leading scorer, Luke Sutherland, was held to only eight points in 16 minutes Saturday.

The Knights face Chicago State in the final non-conference game of the season as the lone NCAA independent institution in men's basketball heads to the east coast on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. ET on the YES Network and the YES App. NEC play continues on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 1 p.m. ET as the Burgundy and Blue welcome the Stonehill Skyhawks to the banks of the Hackensack with that game also on YES and the YES App. Tickets for both contests are on-sale now at FDUKnights.com/Tickets.
 

Knight Cap

• Along with becoming a new career best, Moore's 12 rebounds were the most by a Knight this season
• The Knights drop their first two NEC games for the first time since the 2011-12 season
• Moore and graduate student guard DeVante Jamison (Dorchester, Mass./Jeremiah E. Burke) combined for six three-pointers

Connect with FDU men's basketball on X and Instagram, @FDUKnightsMBB.

Bogota Savings Bank is the presenting sponsor for the 2023-24 FDU men's basketball season.
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