The Fairleigh Dickinson University men’s basketball team fell in its final road game of the Legends Classic, dropping an 84-58 decision to Mississippi State in Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday evening.

Cameron Tyler led FDU with 16 points, while Terence Grier added 10 and Kamil Svrdlik recorded nine points. Sean Baptiste led the squad on the boards with 11 rebounds. Alvin Mofunanya, Eric Moore and Svrdlik each grabbed eight boards.

Mississippi State (4-0) opened the game with 14-straight points, holding the Knights (0-3) scoreless for the first nine and a half minutes. There were only three buckets in the first four minutes of the game, with the first four points coming from MSU’s Jarvis Varnado, who finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds.

Baptiste revved the offense for the Knights, scoring the first five points for FDU as he connected on two free throws before sinking a three-pointer.

A trey from the corner by Moore made it 21-10 with just under six minutes remaining in the game, but the Bulldogs responded with back-to-back three-pointers and a full court press.

An athletic reverse layup from Grier made it a 29-13 game with four minutes on the clock, but the Bulldogs staged a 22-9 over the final six minutes to close out the half ahead, 43-19.

Grier entered the half leading the Knights with seven points and Mofunanya grabbed six rebounds in the first 20 minutes.  The Knights shot 15.6 percent from the floor, while the Bulldogs shot 50 percent. MSU held the advantage in points off turnovers (10-3), but the Knights held an edge in second chance points (5-2).

In the first 13 minutes of the second half, the Knights found their stroke, out-scoring the Bulldogs 28-25.

MSU took its biggest lead of the game, 60-29, with 11:40 on the clock on a jumper by Robero Osby. But the Knights staged a strong offensive run, out-scoring the Bulldogs 16-6 over the next four minutes to cut the edge down to 64-45.

The Knights more than doubled their point total and field goal percentage in the final 20 minutes of the game.

In a game that saw 50 fouls, FDU stayed aggressive on the glass, out-rebounding MSU 50-45.

Mississippi State, SEC defending champions and 2008 NCAA Tournament participant, posted a 30.7 average win margin in its first three wins of the season. In the second half, the Knights held an edge in second-chance points (14-6) and bench scoring (24-18).

“This is the third time that we played a big team on the road and it isn’t getting any easier,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “They scored 84 points with the high scorer at 14, showing that they are a very balanced team. Their inside game caused some problems.”

“At half time, I told the team that we have to regroup and I saw improvement in the second half. The second half was probably the best half we’ve played of the six so far this season,” said Green.

“At half time, Coach Green said that the score doesn’t matter,” said Tyler. “He said we have to go out, stay within our offense and good things will happen.”

The Knights host the Legends Classic on Nov. 28-30. FDU opens its home season on Nov. 28 versus Eastern Kentucky. Eastern Kentucky is matched up against Akron on Nov. 29 and the Knights will face off against Akron on Nov. 30. All three games tip off at 7:00 p.m.