Prairie View Takes Fairleigh Dickinson Men’s Basketball
Matt Hammond nets career high 24 points, Knights to face Rutgers on Friday.  

Box Score

Raleigh, N.C. – Senior forward Matt Hammond scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as the Fairleigh Dickinson (0-2) men’s basketball team fell to Prairie View (1-1) by a score of 77-66 in the second round of the BCA Invitational.  The Knights will face another New Jersey school, Rutgers, on Friday at 1:00 p.m. in consolation round play.

The Knights held an early 7-5 lead behind four of Iman Mattox’s nine points.  After a couple of lead changes and Prairie View up 15-14, the Panthers went on a 8-2 run to pull ahead 23-16.  Fairleigh Dickinson couldn’t find the touch from the perimeter going 8-of-33 from the field in the first frame, including 4-of-18 from beyond the arc, as Prairie View held a 35-27 advantage at the break.

Prairie View built its lead to a 41-30 margin early in the second half before Fairleigh Dickinson ran off six straight points, four of them from Hammond and a three pointer by Lionel Bomayako.  As the Knights heated up, Prairie View was able to respond with their own sharp shooting, going on to hit 55.2% from the field in the second half, including 5-of-8 from three-point land to put the game away.

“We aren’t playing as smart as we should,” said Knights’ head coach Tom Green.  “We need to get the ball inside more and not rely on the three as much.  Matt gave us a great game, a quality effort, but they had answers for everything we threw at them.”

Hammond finished the night 10-for-18 from the field.  Junior Doug Whitler recorded his first double-double for the Knights with 14 points and 12 boards.