Knights Clip Blackbirds, 109-86, for First Win
Whitaker pours in career-high 24 points, Hammond posts double-double.

Box Score/Play-by-Play

Brooklyn, NY – Sophomore guard Marcus Whitaker (Trenton, N.J.) scored a career-high 24 points and senior forward Matt Hammond (Burlington, N.J.) posted his second double-double of the year with 23 points and a career-high 12 rebounds to lead the Fairleigh Dickinson men’s basketball team to its first win of the year, a 109-86 triumph at Long Island.  Antawn Dobie scored 30 points for the Blackbirds, who fell to 0-11 overall and 0-4 in NEC play.  The Knights improved to 1-12 overall and 1-3 in NEC action.

The Blackbirds broke on top, 6-3, in the first two minutes before the Knights exploded with a 20-2 run for a 15-point lead.  Hammond highlighted the run with 12 points.

Fairleigh Dickinson went into the locker room up 52-38 and led 60-46 with 16:21 to go. The Knights erupted on another 10-0 surge to take a commanding 70-46 lead with 12:10 left. Iman Mattox (Hayward, Calif.) tallied six of his 13 points in the spurt.

The Blackbirds cut the lead to 90-74 with 4:21 remaining on Dobie's layup, but Whitaker put the final nail in the coffin as he connected on his fifth three-pointer of the game and converted a free throw after he was fouled on the shot for a rare four-point play.

Whitaker led five Fairleigh Dickinson players in double figures, as he didn’t miss a shot he took. Whitaker was a perfect 8-of-8 from the field, including 5-of-5 from three-point range, 3-for-3 at the free throw line and handed out seven assists.

Hammond hit on 7-of-10 from the field and 8-of-13 from the charity stripe to go along with his game-high 12 boards. Senior center James Felton (Jersey City, N.J.) contributed 18 points and five rebounds.

JaJa Bey finished with 20 points and seven rebounds for LIU with LaForest Knox adding 12 points and three assists.

Fairleigh Dickinson shot a blistering 65 percent (37-of-57) from the floor, including 57 percent (13-of-23) from beyond the arc. LIU hit for 41 percent (31-of-75) from the field and 39 percent (10-of-26) from 3-point range.

“It’s great to get that first win,” said Knights’ head coach Tom Green. “I feel like we got the monkey off of our back.  It was a great effort all around.  Marcus had a tremendous game and Hammond’s play was outstanding.”

The Knights return to action on Thursday, January 10^th when they host UMBC in another NEC contest at 7:00 p.m.