HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The FDU-Florham men's basketball team fought valiantly but was unable to slow the hot-shooting of the Fairleigh Dickinson University Knights as the Devils were upended by the Metropolitan Campus 102-61 on Monday night at Stratis Arena.

Following their one-point victory over Saint Joseph's University, the Knights (2-0) continued the momentum on Monday as they drilled 15 shots from beyond the arc to topple the Devils (0-1) in FDU-Florham's season opener.

FDU-Florham's starting back court, senior Kevin Furlong (Hazlet, N.J.) and freshman Steve Herdman (South Amboy, N.J.), held their own against the NCAA Division I Knights. Furlong registered a game-high 19 points and filled the stat sheet with six rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Herdman added 11 points, six assists and four rebounds in his collegiate debut. Throughout the night, Herdman showed tremendous toughness and matched the physicality of the bigger Knights guards.
 
The Knights featured a balanced attack as five players tallied double-digit scoring efforts in the victory. Three FDU-Metropolitan guards totaled 18 points in the game with sophomore Matt MacDonald, freshman Darian Anderson, senior Mustafaa Jones leading the team.

After falling behind 8-2, the Devils rallied to the game at 10-10 thanks to a pair of three-balls from Furlong and Herdman but the Knights countered and rattled off an 11-0 run to build their lead to 21-10. 

FDU-Florham's offense found a good rhythm in the first half as the Devils shot 56.5 percent from the floor including 7-of-14 from downtown, however, the Knights were deadly from long range as the home team drilled 10-of-13 three-pointers and led 53-38 at the break. MacDonald was unstoppable in the first half, as the sophomore guard knocked down all six of his shots, which included four three-pointers.

The Devils received a solid contribution from second-year forward Donte Ali (Willingboro, N.J.) who finished the first half with seven points and four assists over the first 20 minutes of action. Ali ended the game with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while adding three rebounds and three steals to his ledger. The sophomore showed a strong presence on the defensive end of the floor and was extremely active in his 36 minutes of action.

The Knights charged out of the gate in the second half and set the tone on the very first play when Anderson hit Xavier Harris on a textbook, backdoor alley-oop, which the junior forward slammed down with two hands. Following a Furlong miss, Jones drained a three-pointer to stretch the Knights' lead to 20 at 58-38.

FDU-Florham was unable to chip away at the deficit and the Knights broke the game wide open by closing the contest out on a 26-5 run. The Knights defense stiffened in the second half and limited the Devils to just 25 percent shooting over the game's final 20 minutes. 

In addition to his 18 points, Anderson narrowly missed a double-double with nine assists in the victory. The Knights used their size to outscore the Devils 46-22 in the paint on the night. This is the first time these two teams have met since November 29,1993 when FDU-Metropolitan defeated FDU-Florham 73-67.

Next up for the Devils:
FDU-Florham heads to Allentown, Pa. this Friday, November 21st to take on Widener University in Muhlenberg College's Scotty Wood Tournament at 3 p.m.