6:01 p.m.
FDU gets swept in the round-robin against Merrimack, losing the second game 76-71 and fall to 2-8, 1-3 in the NEC, as Merrimack improves to 3-3, 3-3 in the NEC.
Jenkins led the Knights with 19 points and Rush added 16 off the bench. Baker had 10 points, Powell and Rodriguez had 8 points each.
Minor led the Warriors with a double-double, he had 20 points and 13 rebounds. Watkins added 18 points, Derring added 13 points, Jensen had 10, and McKoy had 10 off the bench.
FDU shot 25-57 (43.9%) from the field, 9-19 (47.4%) from three and 12-17 (70.6%) from the free-throw line.
Merrimack shot 27-57 (47.4%) from the field, 5-23 (21.7%) from three and 17-23 from the free-throw line.
FDU struggled to control the Warriors in both of these games as the presence of Williams and Racine proved to be two pivotal losses in both games.
FDU will be back against Saint Francis University (PA) at the DeGol Arena in Loretto, PA a on Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. and Wednesday, Jan, 27 at 4 p.m.
Merrimack will face LIU at the Steinberg Wellness Center in Brooklyn, NY on Tuesday, Jan, 26 at 7 p.m. and Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 4 p.m. as well.
A big thank you to our sports writer Charles Elmo for helping out with the updates for today’s game. Another thank you to our Editor-In-Chief Elizabeth Scalzo for producing the live blog and our student lifestyle editor Naniyah McClain for updating Twitter. Tune in tomorrow as women’s basketball tips off in their round-robin against Merrimack at Stratis Arena in the Rothman Center. Have a good night everyone!
5:50 p.m.
Merrimack hit their free throws down the stretch to put this one away.
5:49 p.m.
FDU fouls, sending Watkins to the free-throw line. He hits a pair, but the Knights stay in it with a deep three from Jenkins. Knights foul again sending Watkins back to the stripe with 23 seconds remaining.
5:46 p.m.
Watkins finds a wide open Reid down low as he lays it in to extend the lead to 70-64 as Jenkins runs the floor and lays it up to cut the lead to 70-66 with 33 seconds remaining.
5:44 p.m.
It is Watkins again. He banks it in as Powell misses coming back down the other end. Watkins has been clutch down the stretch. He has 14 points and Merrimack now leads by 4 with time running out for the Knights.
5:40 p.m.
Jenkins misses the first of the one-and-one. That leads to a Watkins basket at the other end to take lead. It is 66-64 Warriors with 2 minutes left.
5:39 p.m.
A Derring jumper halts an almost 4 minute scoring drought for the Warriors and ties the game with 2:50 remaining. We are in for a dramatic finish here at Hammol Court.
5:36 p.m.
Minor has fouled out with 4:09 to go in the game. He leaves with a season-high in points with 20. A huge loss coming down the stretch for Merrimack.
5:33 p.m.
Square Jr. has been quiet today, but he gets one to fall with 6:17 left to give the Knights back the lead, 64-62.
5:32 p.m.
Rush drives past minor and lays it up and in to give FDU the lead 62-60 as Watkins drives to the hoop and lays it in to tie it back up at 62 with 6:26 remaining.
5:31 p.m.
Jordan McKoy has come alive in the second half for the Warriors. He draws the arm and converts three free throws at the line. McKoy has 8 points and we are now tied with 7:24 left.
5:29 p.m.
Rodriguez responds by hitting a mid-range jumper. He has been key providing some much needed scoring off the bench for FDU. He now has 8 points for the Knights as they lead by 3 with just over 8 minutes remaining.
5:27 p.m.
Minor gets to the cup and lays it once again through the contact. He now has 20 points, 13 of them coming in the second half alone. The Knights’ lead is down to 1 with 8:22 left in the contest.
5:25 p.m.
Minor makes both free throws to cut the FDU lead to 57-53 with 9:17 remaining.
5:22 p.m.
Powell and Jenson trade threes. Back and forth we go. This one is setting up for a great finish as Jenkins scores following a goaltend. The Knights lead Merrimack 57-51 at the halfway point of the second half.
5:18 p.m.
Lead back up to 7 for FDU after a Rush three-pointer. It is 52-45 with 11:58 remaining in the game. Rush has 14 points for the Knights.
5:15 p.m.
Baker hits his third three-pointer of the contest. This time it is from the corner. All his points have come from behind the three-point line. He has 9 points while FDU continues to hold on to a narrow lead. Knights lead 47-45 with 12:52 left.
5:13 p.m.
There is no stopping Minor right now. He has dominated opening up this second half. Another left hand finish and he is 16 points, leading all scorers.
5:10 p.m.
Jenkins hits a jumper. He has 8 points, but Minor is feasting in the paint for the Warriors. He draws the contact and gets another one to fall. He’ll head back to the free-throw line coming out of the timeout. FDU grasping to a 44-41 lead with a lot of time left in this one.
5:08 p.m.
Minor responds diving to the basket and getting one to fall, plus the foul. He converted the three-point play and now has 12 points leading all Merrimack scorers.
5:07 p.m.
Marc Dadika drives to the basket, gets hit and is headed to the free-throw line. He hits a pair. 42-36, Knights.
5:05 p.m.
Minor puts it back up and in off the miss by Reid. Merrimack is slowly chipping away at the deficit. They trail the Knights 40-36 with 17:20 remaining.
5:03 p.m.
Watkins gets the scoring started in the second half for the Warriors. FDU still leads by 6 a minute into the second half of play.
5:02 p.m.
Powell is on the floor to start the second half for the Knights, after exiting the game earlier with an apparent injury. He has been cleared and is good to go.
4:59 p.m.
FDU shot 53.6% and a red hot 55.6% from three. However, the Knights shot just 62.5% from the free-throw line. Merrimack shot 46.2% but just 26.7% from behind the arc. They also struggled from the free-throw line, shooting 66.7% from behind the stripe.
Brandon Rush led the way for the Knights with 11 points. Baker, Rodriguez and Jenkins each added 6 points of their own.
Derring has only built off last night’s performance, leading the Warriors with 11 points. Jenson and Minor scored 7 points each as well.
Rush’s hot shooting night and Derring’s scoring prowess are things to watch in the second half. No update on Brandon Powell and his injury status just yet.
4:46 p.m.
Jenkins gets to the hoop and gets it to go to round out the first half of play. The Knights are in control over Merrimack 40-32 at the end of half number one.
4:44 p.m.
Watkins lays it in for Merrimack. A pretty finger roll and he’s got 5 points.
He cuts the lead to 5, but Rush is scorching hot. Another three for him as he’s got 11 points and has not missed yet. FDU lead is back up to 8 with only a minute to play in the half.
4:40 p.m.
Baker checks back in for Powell and immediately knocks down a three-pointer. FDU extends their lead to 34-26 with a little over 4 minutes left in this first half.
4:38 p.m.
Powell hits a jumper at the other end but comes down limping. He heads straight to the bench in some discomfort. Definitely something to watch.
4:37 p.m.
This time it is Minor converting at the rim and a foul. He completes the three-point play to cut the Knights lead to 3.
4:35 p.m.
Jenson gets to the basket and lays it in, plus the foul. He was unable to finish off the three-point play, but he has 7 points for the Warriors. It is 29-23 FDU with just over 5 minutes left in the first half.
4:32 p.m.
Rush is feeling it from the behind the arc. 8 points off the bench, leading all scorers after hitting another long range jumper. Derring responds with a three-pointer of his own. Lead is 6 for the Knights.
4:29 p.m.
Minor goes up and under and gets the reverse layup. Rush answers back with a long three with a hand in his face. He has five quick points off the bench. FDU has their largest lead of the night so far. They lead by 8 with 7:42 remaining in the first half.
4:25 p.m.
Rush gets his first points of the game with a long jumper. Just under 10 minutes left in the half and the Knights lead 20-14.
:24 p.m.
Brandon Rush checks into the game for the first time with a jersey that does not have his name on the back of it.
4:22 p.m.
Jenkins makes the mid-range jumper to extend the lead to 16-12 halfway through the first half.
4:21 p.m.
Rodriguez goes up and under the basket and makes the shot to extend the lead to 14-10 as Watkins makes a jumper on the other end to cut the lead to 14-12 with 11 minutes remaining in the half.
4:19 p.m.
Mikey Square Jr. draws the foul. Foul trouble early for the Warriors with Reid picking up his second personal foul with 12:50 left in the first half. FDU leads 12-9.
4:16 p.m.
Rodriguez is giving the Knights some real energy off the bench to start this one. He faces up and hits a mid-range jumper to give the lead back to FDU. A back and forth contest thus far.
4:14 p.m.
Munden Jr. lays it in and ties the game at 9 a piece with 15 minutes remaining in the half.
4:13 p.m.
A Powell steal leads to a Baker three for FDU, but the Warriors have an answer. This time it’s Jenson with a three-pointer of his own. All of Merrimack’s baskets have been three point shots early on.
4:11 p.m.
Daniel Rodriguez checks in and makes the basket to give FDU the lead 4-2 as Derring drills the three on the other end to give the Warriors the lead back 6-4 with 17:07 remaining in the half.
4:10 p.m.
Derring starts off his night nailing a three-pointer to give Merrimack an early lead. He had five threes in last night’s matchup and only continues his hot shooting to start this one.
4:08 p.m.
Two turnovers to start the game for the Warriors as Munden Jr. kicks off the scoring for the Knights. There was a late change in the starting lineup as Joe Munden Jr. gets the start over Brandon Rush.
4:05 p.m.
FDU’s starting five for today is Jahlil Jenkins, Brandon Powell, Brandon Rush, Callum Baker and John Square Jr.
Merrimack’s starting five for today is Mikey Watkins, Jordan Minor, Mykel Derring, Devin Jensen and Ziggy Reid.
3:51 p.m.
Hi everyone and welcome to another men’s basketball live blog. This is Charles Elmo, sports writer for The Equinox, joined by sports editor Anthony Covino.
Our Editor-In-Chief Elizabeth Scalzo will be producing the live blog for today’s game and our student lifestyle editor Naniyah McClain will be updating Twitter.
After a long pause in play that lasted nearly a month, the Knights (2-7,1-2 NEC) returned to action last night but were defeated 62-51 in the first of a two game slate against Merrimack (2-3, 2-3 NEC).
Today, FDU will look to get even with the Warriors. However, they may have to do it without senior forward Elyjah Williams and freshman forward Pier Olivier-Racine.
Williams missed last night’s game. He is the second leading scorer on the team averaging 14.3 PPG, behind Brandon Rush at 14.5 PPG.
We will know more about his status as we get closer to game time and starting lineups are announced.
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