HACKENSACK, N.J. – FDU men's basketball (12-18, 8-7) snapped a three-game skid with an 82-69 win over Stonehill (14-16, 6-9) on Thursday night. It is the eighth time this season the NEC's leading offense has reached the 80-point mark.  

The Knights have now won their last three games inside the Bogota Savings Bank Center. This note is particularly relevant because tonight's victory secured a home quarterfinal  in next week's conference tournament.

FDU's leading scorer Terrence Brown gave the Skyhawks headaches for the second time this season. The guard posted a double-double in the teams' first matchup of the season and followed that up with a 23-point performance tonight. It was a slow burn for Brown on the offensive end, who scored eight of his first ten points at the free throw line. As the game went on though, the lanes opened up and he used the momentum gained from made layups to start knocking down perimeter shots. The Minnesota native is the fifth player in FDU in history to reach the 600-point mark in a single season. Tonight, he complemented his scoring with five assists, three steals, and three rebounds.

Brown's running mate, Dylan Jones, did his part to space the floor. Jones stretched the defense to the tune of four made triples and finished with 17 points. The junior sharpshooter has now made three or more threes in 15 games this season. He is averaging four makes from deep per game over FDU's last five outings.

There was not much scoring early in the first half, but a 7-2 FDU run that spanned just 38 seconds put them ahead, 20-11. This was capped off a by a Jo'el Emanuel triple and an ensuing Jameel Morris steal-and-score.

Morris provided a familiar spark off the bench for Jack Castleberry. He finished the game with nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 27 minutes.

Stonehill responded with a run of their own and moved within three points of FDU near the end of the first half. In the final 2:33 of the period, the Knights scored seven unanswered and led 36-26 at the break.

Jones opened the second half with a three and FDU rolled from there. That 7-0 run turned into a 12-0 run and  lifted the Knights to a 15-point lead. Stonehill did not get closer than 12 the rest of the way. Tyree Barba-Bey connected from beyond the arc to give the Knights their largest lead of the game at 62-41 with 12:24 remaining.

In what has become an encouraging trend over the last two games, the Knights took good care of the basketball. They committed just eight turnovers. Their attentiveness on offense was matched by an assertive defensive effort. They produced 15 assists, which was also the number of Stonehill turnovers.

WHAT'S NEXT
FDU's regular season finale comes on Saturday, March 1, against LIU in Hackensack. If FDU wins they will secure the #3 seed in the NEC tournament. The game is set to tipoff at 4 p.m.
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