Neighbor News
FDU Men's Basketball Falls to Big Ten Member Rutgers
The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team fell to Rutgers by a score of 72-64.
Box Score
Piscataway, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men’s basketball team fell to Rutgers by a final score of 72-64 on Wednesday night at The RAC. The Knights (4-7) were led by 15 points from sophomoreStephan Jiggetts (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) and 13 from freshman Mike Holloway(Pittsgrove, N.J./Arthur P. Schalick ). The Scarlet Knights (5-7) were led by 21 points from Corey Sanders.
“It was a really competitive game. Both teams played really hard and Rutgers made plays down the stretch,” head coach Greg Herenda said after the game. “They have three really good guards. I give them a lot of credit. They’re really banged up and they’re going through a tough stretch and they showed a lot of pride tonight.”
FDU led for more than 24 minutes, but Rutgers came from behind to earn the victory.
Holloway also had nine rebounds, matching a career-high. His 13 points came on 6-of-12 shooting.
The Knights opened the second half with a 6-1 run to grab a 35-28 lead. Rutgers would tie the game at 36-36 on a three-pointer with 14:05 left to play. From that point the teams would trade baskets and the lead with neither side able to grab more than a one possession lead until the 3:19 mark when Rutgers would take a 59-55 lead on a free throw by Jonathan Laurent.
The Knights continued to score, but Rutgers extended its lead to eight points on free throws in the final minute.
The Knights led 29-27 at the half, behind seven points from sophomore Darian Anderson(Washington, D.C./St. John’s College ) and six from sophomore Earl Potts Jr. (Severn, Md./Archbishop Spalding )
After falling behind 4-0 to start the game FDU scored the next eight points, taking a 6-4 lead on a jumper by Anderson at the 15:35 mark and then extending it to eight points on a layup by Anderson with 13:22 left in the period.
Leading 10-9 at the second media timeout, the Knights came out of the stoppage on fire scoring nine straight points and eventually using a 14-3 run to build a 24-12 lead. Rutgers chipped away at the lead over the final six minutes of the period, but a layup by Anderson with 20 seconds remaining in the period allowed the Knights to take a lead into the break.
The Knights shot 42.2% (27-of-64) from the field, but struggled at the free throw line (7-of-20) and three-point arc (3-of-20). Rutgers was 45.7% (21-of-46) from the floor and 41.2% (7-of-17) from three. The Scarlet Knights also connected at a 74.2% clip from the free throw line (23-of-31).
FDU forced Rutgers into 17 turnovers, while committing just eight.
The Knights also dominated the paint outscoring the Scarlet Knights 44-22.
The game featured four lead changes and the score was tied 10 times.
Potts, Anderson and sophomore Marques Townes (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph (Metuchen)) all finished with nine points. Townes was also credited with three assists and three steals.
The Knights are now 0-8 all-time against members of the Big Ten.
“Now, we played really well and got the respect of Rutgers, their crowd and our crowd. We did everything but win the game, so it’s going to be a good teaching lesson to go back once we get into NEC play,” Herenda added.
FDU completes its non-conference schedule with a 4-7 record. The team will resume competition on January 2 against St. Francis Brooklyn. The Knights and Terries will tip-off at 4:30 p.m. following a game between the FDU and SFBK women’s teams.
