6:26 p.m.
FDU improves to 5-9, 4-4 NEC while Bryant falls to 10-5, 6-5 NEC after this two game series.
Racine led the Knights with a career high 21 points. Jenkins added 18 points with Williams adding 16 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists. Rush had 15 points with Baker having a career high 14 points as well.
Kiss had 24 points for the Bulldogs as Pride added 21 points. Childs added 13 points off the bench as Green III had 11 points. Elisias had 7 points.
FDU shot 17-25 (68%) from the field, 1-6 (16.7%) and 19-22 (86.4%) from the free-throw line in the second half. In total, they shot 33-57 (57.9%) from the field, 7-19 (36.8%) from three, and 22-26 (84.6%) from the free-throw line.
Bryant shot 14-44 (31.8%) from the field, 9-30 (30%) from three and 9-15 (60%) from the free-throw line in the second half. In total, Bryant shot 28-72 (38.9%) from the field, 14-41 (34.1%) from three, and 14-20 (70%) from the free-throw line.
FDU gets the much needed two game sweep over first place Bryant as they head to play second place LIU next week on Thursday, Feb. 4th at 7 p.m. and Friday, Feb. 5th at 7 p.m at the Steinberg Wellness Center, in Brooklyn, NY. This will be the first meeting between FDU and LIU this season since LIU defeated FDU 73-72 in last year’s NEC Quarterfinal on a buzzer beater floater from junior guard Julian Batts.
Thank you for following tonight’s game. We would like to thank our sports writer Charles Elmo for helping out with updates during the game. Another thank you to our Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth Scalzo for producing the live blog and student lifestyle editor Naniyah McClain for updating Twitter throughout the game. Enjoy the rest of your night!
6:12 p.m.
Bryant will dribble it out as FDU secures the two-game sweep over Bryant with a 95-84 win.
6:12 p.m.
Kiss fouls out as Baker makes both free throws to extend the FDU lead to 95-84 with five seconds to go.
6:11 p.m.
Baker heads to the line again and makes one free throw to extend the FDU lead to 93-84 with 10 seconds to go. Baker has a career high 12 points.
6:10 p.m.
Baker makes both free throws as Pride makes the three to cut the FDU lead to 92-84 with 15 seconds to go.
6:10 p.m.
Kiss lays it in as Moon IV gets the steal and gets the three to fall to cut the FDU lead to 90-81 with 20 seconds to go.
6:08 p.m.
Racine makes both free throws to extend the FDU lead to 89-76 with 35 seconds to go. Racine has a career high 21 points in this game.
6:08 p.m.
Nathaniel Stokes makes one of two from the line. He fouls Racine as the Bulldogs look to extend the game down 87-76 with 41 seconds left.
6:07 p.m.
Williams makes both free throws to extend the FDU lead to 87-75 with 51 seconds remaining. He has 16 points in the game.
6:05 p.m.
Pride’s layup is good to cut the FDU lead to 85-75 with just under a minute to go.
6:04 p.m.
Baker makes both free throws to extend the Knights lead to 85-73 with a minute to go.
6:03 p.m.
FDU makes a huge defensive stand. Blocks by Williams and Racine lead to a foul by Kiss. The play is under review with 1:17 left in the game and the Knights leading by 10.
6:01 p.m.
Moon IV fouls Square Jr. He splits a pair as the Knights look to pull away, up 83-73 with 1:47 remaining.
5:59 p.m.
Kiss again as his three is good off the pass by Moon IV to cut the FDU lead to 82-73 with 1:49 to go. Kiss has 22 points in the game.
5:56 p.m.
Kiss heads to the line again as he makes one free throw to cut the FDU lead to 82-70 with 2 minutes to go.
5:55 p.m.
Baker makes both free throws to extend the FDU lead to 82-69 with two minutes to go. He has 7 points in the game.
5:52 p.m.
Kiss makes one free throw to cut the FDU lead to 78-69 with 3:42 to go. Rodriguez’s layup is good off the outlet pass by Williams. That extends the FDU lead to 80-69 with 3:15 to go.
5:49 p.m.
Baker and Jenkins make back-to-back baskets to extend the FDU lead to 78-68 with 3:58 to go.
5:49 p.m.
Rodriguez’s tip leads to points for FDU. He has been very active on the offensive glass, which has led to extra opportunities for the Knights.
5:45 p.m.
Kiss makes the three to cut the Knights’ lead back to 74-68 with five minutes to go. Kiss has 17 points in the game.
5:43 p.m.
Munden Jr. gets his fifth foul of the game. He fouls out as Childs makes both free throws to cut the FDU lead to 74-65 with 6:33 to go. Childs has 13 points in the game.
5:41 p.m.
Racine is unstoppable in the paint as he makes the layup and blocks the shot on the other end as the FDU lead is 74-63 with 6 minutes to go in the game.
5:40 p.m.
Pride drills the three to cut the lead back to 72-63 with 6 minutes to go in the game.
5:39 p.m.
Racine yet again as his layup is good to extend the FDU lead to 72-60. Racine has a career high 17 points in this game.
5:38 p.m.
Racine again as he lays it in to extend the FDU lead to 70-60 with 7:41 to go.
5:38 p.m.
Pride’s layup is good and draws the foul. He makes the layup and cuts the lead to 68-60.
5:37 p.m.
Racine again slams it home to extend the FDU lead to 68-57. Racine has 13 points in the game.
5:36 p.m.
Pride halts the run for now with a jumper from beyond the arc. He cracks double digits with 10 points, but the Knights remains in control.
5:34 p.m.
Jenkins heads to the line for two free throws and makes both to give FDU a 66-54 lead with 9:31 to go in the game. FDU is on an 8-0 run in the last 3 minutes.
5:32 p.m.
Williams, on the pass from Jenkins, lays it in to extend the FDU lead to 64-54 with 10 minutes to go in the game. Williams is up to 13 points in the game.
5:32 p.m.
Williams gets the rebound on the defensive end and nails the three on the other end to extend the FDU lead to 62-54 with 10 minutes to go in the game.
5:31 p.m.
Jenkins splits the defense and gets the floater to fall. He has 14 points for the Knights. FDU leads 59-54 with 11:34 remaining.
5:26 p.m.
Munden Jr. picks up his fourth foul of the game as he misses the layup and Childs hits the jumper of the other end to cut the FDU lead to 57-53 with 12 minutes to go.
5:25 p.m.
Williams picks up his fourth foul. He doesn’t like the call, but he has to head back to the bench for FDU with 12:42 left in the game.
5:22 p.m.
Rush lays it in to extend the FDU lead to 57-51 with 13:31 to go in the game, he has 15 points for the Knights.
5:22 p.m.
Racine again on the dunk as Pride nails the three on the other end to cut the FDU lead back to 55-51 with 13:31 remaining in the game.
5:21 p.m.
Racine slams it home off the alley-oop to extend the lead to 53-48 with 14:30 to go in the game.
5:20 p.m.
Green III steals the inbound off his make. The steal leads to multiple offensive rebounds for Bryant. The Bulldogs crash the boards, which leads to Kiss hitting a pair from the stripe. He is up to 13 points, but Bryant still trails the Knights 51-48.
5:17 p.m.
Green III nails the three over two FDU defenders to cut the lead to 51-46 with 15:12 to go in the game.
5:16 p.m.
Rodriguez gets on the board after grabbing the offensive rebound. His extra effort on the glass leads to a layup that puts the Knights up 51-43 with 15:55 left.
5:13 p.m.
Racine gets the hook shot to fall and extends the FDU lead to 49-43 with 16:13 to go in the game.
5:12 p.m.
Munden Jr. gets his third foul and Baker will replace him as Elisias makes one free throw to cut the FDU lead to 47-43.
5:12 p.m.
Elisias is called for the foul. That is his third and it will send Rush to the free-throw line for a pair. He hits them both to give the Knights a 47-42 lead with 17:19 remaining.
5:10 p.m.
Foul trouble for FDU as Wiliams is called for his third foul. Daniel Rodriguez checks in for the Knights with 17:51 left.
5:09 p.m.
Williams gets the hook shot to go and extends the FDU lead to 45-42 with 17:45 to go in the game.
5:08 p.m.
Munden Jr. gets a goaltending call as he gives FDU the lead, 43-42 with 18:24 to go in the game
5:08 p.m.
Elisias lays it up and in and draws the foul. He misses the layup as the Bryant lead is now 42-41.
5:07 p.m.
Kiss opens up the second half scoring with an easy fast break layup. He has 12 points for the Bulldogs. Bryant still trails 41-40 early in this second half of play.
4:56 p.m.
At halftime, FDU has the lead 41-38, going into a second half that will for sure be entertaining.
Jenkins leads the Knights with 12 points with Rush adding 11. Kiss leads the Bulldogs with 10 points with Green III and Childs adding 8 points each.
FDU shot 16-32 (50%) from the field, 6-13 (46.2%) from three and 3-4 (75%) from the free-throw line. Bryant shot 14-28 (50%) from the field, 5-11 (45.5%) from three and 5-5 (100%) from the free-throw line.
Both teams have not slowed down on offense since last night. Both are hitting on half of their shots and have kept the game close.
Both teams are efficiently shooting the three well, but FDU needs to limit Bryant’s three-point shooting to slow down the potent Bryant offense in the second half.
4:49 p.m.
Jenkins does it again. For the second consecutive game, he rises up and banks in an off balance three-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half of play. That shot gives the Knights a 41-38 lead heading into the locker room.
4:48 p.m.
A three on one break leads to a Baker three from the corner. Green III answers at the other end by getting to the rim and laying up and in. We are tied up at 38 with 15 seconds remaining in the half.
4:47 p.m.
Pride makes both free throws to give the Bulldogs the lead back 36-35 with a minute to go
4:46 p.m.
Hurtado lays it in to cut the lead back to 35-34 with 1:25 to go in the half. The basket ended a scoring drought of over 5 minutes for Bryant.
4:45 p.m.
Nice touch by the big man Racine. The smooth post move makes the score 35-32 Knights with just over 2 minutes left in the first half.
4:43 p.m.
Bryant has gone scoreless over the last 4 minutes of play. The Knights have taken advantage of their poor shooting with a 9-0 run since trailing 32-23. They still lead the Bulldogs 33-32 with 3:24 remaining.
4:39 p.m.
Rush pumps fake to free up space then hits the three. Munden Jr. dives to the rim and gets the layup to drop as Rush steals the inbound and nails another one from downtown. He has 11 points and just like that, the Knights take the lead. It is 33-32 with 5:17 left in the first half.
4:35 p.m.
Jenkins goes isolation and gets to the cup. His floater hits back iron, bounces around, but falls in. Green III responds with a three-pointer and it appears he’s found his stroke with 6 points for Bryant. The Bulldogs lead FDU 32-23 with 7:06 remaining in the half.
4:29 p.m.
A couple of offensive rebounds leads to a Jenkins three. He has 7 points for the Knights. Childs is feeling it for Bryant. He steps into a three and sticks it. He has 8 points as the Bulldogs maintain a 6-point lead at the halfway point of the first half.
4:26 p.m.
John Square Jr. checks in and quickly gets a layup to fall. 8-0 run for FDU.
4:25 p.m.
Big time move by Williams, who posts up and hits the jump hook. Soft touch by the big man as the Knights cut the deficit to six. Bryant leads 20-14 with 11:14 left.
4:22 p.m.
Jenkins has it going early. A pretty move sets up a nice touch on the floater. FDU still trails 20-12 with 12:30 remaining in the first half of play.
4:20 p.m.
Coach Greg Herenda is called for the technical foul. Frustration early on for the Knights as they trail 20-8.
4:19 p.m.
Chris Childs checks in for Bryant and immediately makes his mark. He sticks a three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a double digit lead. FDU trails 16-6 with just under 15 minutes left.
4:17 p.m.
Racine gets the jumper to fall, but Hurtado gets to the basket and lays it in. The Bulldogs are getting to the basket at will to start this game. They lead the Knights 13-6 with 15:20 remaining.
4:16 p.m.
Williams finds Rush, who nails the three-pointer. Kiss answers for Bryant at the other end with a three of his own. He turned and stared at the FDU bench as he extended the Bulldogs lead to 11-4 with 16 minutes left in the half.
4:12 p.m.
Green III, who was held in check last night, knocked down his first attempt of the game to open up the scoring with 18:22 remaining in the first half.
4:06 p.m.
The Knights’ starting lineup for tonight is Brandon Rush, Jahlil Jenkins, Brandon Powell, Pier-Olivier Racine and Elyjah Williams.
Starting lineup for Bryant is Michael Green III, Charles Pride, Luis Hurtado, Peter Kiss and Hall Elisias.
3:55 p.m.
Good afternoon and welcome to another men’s basketball live blog. I am Anthony Covino, the sports editor of The Equinox, joined by our sports writer Charles Elmo. Our Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth Scalzo will be producing today’s live blog and our student lifestyle editor Naniyah McClain will be updating Twitter.
FDU is coming off its most important win of the season, beating NEC first-place Bryant 81-79 last night. FDU Preseason All-NEC senior guard Jahlil Jenkins led the Knights with 26 points, including the game-winning bucket as he went over 1,500 points in his career, and entered FDU’s top 10 in career scoring.
Sophomore guard Brandon Rush added 18. Preseason All-NEC senior forward Elyjah Williams added 13 and freshman forward Pier-Olivier Racine added 12 points off the bench.
FDU was able to limit sophomore guard Michael Green III to 4 points last night. He came into the doubleheader as Bryant’s leading scorer, averaging almost 20 points a game. Junior guard Chris Childs had 22 points off the bench for the Bulldogs. Sophomore guard Charles Pride added 14 points, junior guard Peter Kiss had 10 points and senior forward Hall Elisias shot a perfect 9-9 for 18 points.
A one-month layoff for the Knights forced them to postpone three games this month alone. At least one player — freshman forward Pier-Oliver Racine — was diagnosed with COVID-19 in that time frame, said head coach Greg Herenda in post-game comments shared on the @fduknightsMBB Twitter account.
“He had COVID. I felt bad for him because at Saint Francis [last week] he really tried, but he couldn’t go. The international kids quarantine the first 14 days regardless. He has been in quarantine for probably over 50 days,” Herenda said.
FDU is 4-9 overall, 3-4 in NEC play. Meanwhile, #1 Bryant fell to 10-4 overall and 6-4 in the NEC. The top 4 teams in the regular-season round-robin schedule advance to the conference tournament with an NCAA bid going to the champion.
The Knights look to sweep Bryant in this, the second game of the weekend NEC doubleheader, tipping off at 4 p.m. in the Rothman Center.
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