The 2009-10 season ended for the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team in the Northeast Conference Tournament quarterfinals at the Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center in Brooklyn, NY on Thursday night. The No. 5 Knights fell to host LIU, seeded fourth, 63-61, as the Blackbirds (13-18) advance to the Tournament semifinals on Sunday.

Mike Scott and Terence Grier led the Knights, who finish the season 11-21 overall and 10-8 in the Northeast Conference, with 13 points each. Alvin Mofunanya registered his ninth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds, adding three blocks to finish his career at FDU with 114, which ties him for eighth on the all-time career list. Kamil Svrdlik added 12 points and seven rebounds. Scott dished out seven assists to finish the season with 173 assists, a number that sits fourth all-time in the single-season record books. John Galvin added eight rebounds and two blocks.

The Knights came out firing, taking a 9-0 lead on baskets by three different players with four points coming from Svrdlik. FDU's defense held Long Island scoreless for the first four minutes, extending its lead to 13-1 as Sean Baptiste and Scott had back-to-back buckets.

Mofunanya grabbed four rebounds and swatted two shots in the first 4:20 of the game.

Jamal Olasewere had four-straight points to make it 15-7 and LIU staged a 23-11 run, starting with five unanswered points, that gave the Blackbirds their first lead of the game. They took hold of a 23-20 edge after holding the Knights scoreless for a stretch of four minutes until Mofunanya ended the draught with a dunk off an offensive rebound.

Grier converted an old-fashioned three-point play to reclaim a 25-23 lead for FDU. A lay-up by Kenny Onyechi knotted the score, but Scott broke the tie with his third trey of the game.

A Jaytornah Wisseh jumper tied the game, 32-32, with a minute remaining in the half, sending the two teams into the break even.

Scott led all scorers in the first 20 minutes with 11 points, going 4-for-6 from the floor and 3-for-4 from behind the arc. FDU out-scored LIU in the paint, 20-10, but the Blackbirds held a 23-19 edge on the boards. FDU shot 44 percent, holding Long Island to 32.4 percent.

Michael Culpo, who had no points against Fairleigh Dickinson when the two matched up against each other in the regular season, ended the half with six points on a pair of three-pointers. The Knights held LIU's leading scorer, Wisseh, scoreless for the first 17 minutes of the game.

The Knights took a 40-37 lead on a pair of free throws from Galvin and a long trey from Baptiste, his first of the game. But the Blackbirds scored the next five points to grab hold of the lead. Mofunanya had back-to-back baskets to give the advantage to FDU.

A dunk by Svrdlik was followed by a three-pointer from Baptiste, giving Fairleigh Dickinson a 49-44 edge with 10:30 remaining in the game.

Culpo had back-to-back three-pointers to give the Blackbirds a 54-49 edge and Daivd Hicks added to it as he connected on two from the stripe. Wisseh made both of his free throws to give LIU its largest lead of the game, 60-51, with six minutes remaining.

The Knights reeled off the next six points, capped by a steal by Baptiste that led to Scott swishing a jumper to make it a three-point game with four and a half minutes left to play.

Grier grabbed a steal and took it to the other end, where he was fouled and sank both free throws to cut LIU's lead to one.

With Long Island holding a two-point lead, Mofunanya found Grier under the basket to knot the game for the eighth time, 61-61, and 2:11 on the clock.

Onyechi netted a lay-up in the paint to give LIU the lead and the Knights had three shots on the other end, but were unable to convert. Hicks missed the front end of a one-and-one but FDU was unable to put one in on the other end. Hicks again missed his first free throw and the Knights again took hold of the rebound, but were fouled before they could get a shot.

"I'm so proud of the team," said Head Coach Greg Vetrone. "As with this entire season, they never gave up. That's just the make-up of this team. We had three or four good shots at the end of the game, but they just didn't fall. You have to give all the credit to LIU, they have a great team."

Culpo led five Blackbirds in double-digits with 15 points on five three-pointers. Olasewere notched a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Onyechi and Wisseh had 10 points and Hicks added 11. The Blackbirds held a 45-40 edge on the boards.

LIU's bench out-scored FDU, 17-4. This game is only the third this season, second in-conference, which the Knights have lost after shooting a better percentage than their opponent.