Men’s Basketball Defeated by Seton Hall, 95-73
Five Knights scored in double digits, Edwards posts double-double.  

Box Score

E. Rutherford, N.J. – Five Knights scored in double-digits and Brandon Edwards (Southfield, Mich.) recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but the Fairleigh Dickinson men’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a strong second half by Seton Hall in a 95-73 defeat at the Continental Airlines Arena.  The Knights fell to 0-9 on the year, while Seton Hall improved to 6-2, behind 31 points from John Allen and 21 from Andre Barrett.             

With the game knotted at 14-14 at 15:13 of the first half, Iman Mattox (Hayward, Calif.) hit a pair of threes to spark a 12-0 run and give the Knights their biggest lead of the contest at 26-14.  The Pirates responded with their own 18-2 run, getting nine points from Allen, to take a 32-28 lead with 6:09 left in the opening period.  The Knights briefly regained the lead with 2:58 to go at 33-32 on a Mattox layup, but Seton Hall got a pair of three-pointers by Barrett and Marcus Toney-El to close out the half with a 38-33 advantage.

Seton Hall built second half leads of 15 points at 54-39 (16:02) and 61-46 (12:05) before Fairleigh Dickinson made one more charge.  The Knights cut the deficit to six at 65-59 with 8:53 remaining, but could pull no closer as Seton Hall sealed the game by outscoring Fairleigh Dickinson 30-14 over the final 8:20.

Edwards hit on 5-of-10 from the field, 6-of-8 at the free-throw line and added three steals for the Knights.  Matt Hammond (Burlington, N.J.) chipped in 16 points and six boards.  Mattox, Marcus Whitaker (Trenton, N.J.) and Mensah Peterson (North Brunswick, N.J.) each netted 11 points.

Allen connected on 11-of-17 from the field, including 4-of-7 beyond the arc for Seton Hall.  The Pirates shot 41.7% from three-point distance for the game.

“We threw a couple of different defenses at Seton Hall tonight and they had an answer for everything we threw at them,” said Knights’ head coach Tom Green.  “We’re a little bit undermanned right now, but I’m proud of our guys and the effort they gave tonight.”  He added, “I told the guys afterwards, you played your hearts out, and that’s all I can ask of you to do.”

Fairleigh Dickinson returns to action on December 22, as the Knights host Delaware State at 7:00 p.m.