HACKENSACK, N.J. – The FDU Knights (3-8) defeated Lehman (6-5) by a score of 76-42 on Friday afternoon at the Bogota Savings Bank Center. It marked FDU's final non-conference home game of the year.
- Noah Melson set a career high with 18 points
- All 17 of his points came in the first half
- The junior guard shot 5-10 from beyond the arc
- Melson grabbed six rebounds
Eric Parnell opened the scoring with a triple that wound up being one of FDU's seven three-pointers in the half. However, it was the Knights' defense that created the initial separation. They held Lehman to just two minutes in over seven minutes of play. This opened the door for a 13-2 FDU run that put them ahead 29-13. Melson knocked down two threes in the final three minutes to extend FDU's lead to 40-17 at the break. The Knights doubled up Lehman on the boards in the first half (28-14) and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds.
FDU's dominance continued into the second half. Six different players combined to score the Knights' first 15 points of the half. At this point, they had extended their lead to 31. Again, the Knights shut down Lehman's scoring efforts for multiple minutes at a time. For over three minutes, Lehman was able to muster just two points. This allowed FDU's lead to steadily grow. A 26-12 run, which consisted of points from seven different players, made it a 73-36 game.
- FDU shot 38.7% from the field
- The Knights knocked down 13 triples
- It is their fifth game this season with ten or more made threes
- FDU held Lehman to 29.8% from the field
- The Knights outrebounded their opponent 46-32
- Taeshaud Jackson added 11 points
- Josiah Francis scored ten points off the bench for a season-high
- Joey Niesman filled the stat-sheet with eight points, eight assists, and six rebounds
FDU will head to Boston College on Monday, December 22. The game is scheduled to tip at 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
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Bogota Savings Bank is the presenting sponsor of FDU Men's Basketball
