Two Knights had season-highs, and three players netted double-digits, but it wasn't enough as visiting Rhode Island defeated the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team, 95-80, at Stratis Arena on Tuesday evening. The Knights fall to 1-10 this season, while the Rams improve to 8-4 on the year.
Junior guard Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Notre Dame Prep (MA)) (Jamaica, NY) led the Knights with a season-high 25 points, while sophomore guard Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) (Cranford, NJ), a transfer from Rhode Island in his first season with the Knights, posted a season-high 21 points. Junior forward Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow) (Englewood, NJ) added 15 points, all coming in the final 20 minutes. Tyler dished out eight assists and Grier swiped three steals and added the first block of his career.
The Knights jumped out to a 10-4 advantage to start off the game, with Tyler netting six of the first 10 points. But a bucket from Kahiem Seawright made it a two-point game, 12-10.
URI took its first lead of the game, 15-14, at the 11:41 mark on a three-pointer by Jimmy Baron, who was held to 13 points after his 22-point performance against the Knights last year (1/2/08).
The two teams traded buckets, and FDU regained the lead on back-to-back buckets from Grier as he put in athletic tip-in followed by a dunk. The Knights then took the lead on jumper by sophomore forward John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) (Weston, CT), 22-21, with 7:17 remaining in the half. But URI scored eight unanswered points to take the lead.
Tyler responded, sinking one from behind the arc, but the Rams' 12-2 run gave them a 41-27 advantage with less than four minutes left in the first frame. A layup from Orion Outerbridge gave Rhode Island a 47-31 edge heading into halftime. URI out-scored the Knights in points off turnovers, 22-4, and fast break points, 14-6. Tyler led FDU in the first 20 minutes with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Grier connected on all four of his first-half attempts for 18 points.
FDU out-shot the Rams, 58 percent (15-26) to 49 percent (20-41) in the first half.
Mofunanya sparked the Knights coming out of the break, sinking FDU's first six points of the half. A dunk from Delroy James gave URI its largest lead of the game, 61-40, with 15:25 on the clock. Back-to-back baskets from Grier cut the lead down, but the Rams responded with a 10-3 run to take a 71-47 edge.
But FDU responded, staging a run of its own to out-score Rhode Island, 13-2, over the next four minutes. The run, capped by a lay-in from Mofunanya, made it 75-62 with seven minutes left to play.
FDU added a 10-3 run to cut the Rams' advantage down to 10 (83-73) with four minutes remaining. Over a seven minute span, Fairleigh Dickinson managed to out-score Rhode Island, 24-10.
But the Rams widened the gap, on the strength of a 12-4 spurt, for a 95-77 lead with 25 seconds on the clock. A three-pointer from Mofunanya at the buzzer made the final 95-80.
“I can't focus on the record,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “I have to focus on our conference games, because we are 1-1 in the NEC, which is a good position. I really hope that playing such a competitive schedule has paid off for us.”
“We have to shoot free throws a whole lot better than we have been,” said Green. “I'm pleased with Cameron's 25 points and eight assists, but he needs to cut down on turnovers. I thought that Terence had a tremendous effort. His penetration to the basket was incredible. Obviously he had some personal motivation, wanting to play well.”
“I think that we are getting better as a team. It isn't anywhere that you can see in our record, but we battled for 40 minutes tonight and I hope that we are growing up as a team.”
This is the second game this season that the three Knights have scored in double-digits with two scoring 20 points or more. The other game was a 71-67 victory versus Monmouth.
The Knights were out-rebounded, 40-27 and shot 8-for-22 from the line. FDU held Rhode Island to only three three-pointers (3-11).
The Knights return to Northeast Conference action, hosting Quinnipiac at 7:00 p.m. on January 3.
