MADISON, N.J. – The FDU-Florham men's basketball team fought back valiantly to cut a 21-point deficit down to three points in the game's final minutes but were unable to get past William Paterson University, ultimately falling 81-72 on Saturday afternoon at Ferguson Recreation Center.

In the loss, four Devils scored in double-figures led by senior Kevin Furlong (Hazlet, N.J.) and freshman Steve Herdman (South Amboy, N.J.), who finished with 17 points apiece. The Devils shot a season-high 47.5 percent from the floor in defeat.

William Paterson jumped out to an early 10-2 lead less than four minutes to action. With 6:15 to go in the first half, the Pioneers had built a 19-point cushion at 37-18.  But the Devils received a surge from freshman reserve Kyle Jones (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who set a career-high with seven points in the first half of action. The first-year guard finished with nine points on the day and provided energetic defense, which allowed FDU-Florham to cut the lead to 13 at intermission.

The Pioneers shot 56.7 percent from the floor in the opening stanza and converted 9-of-12 from the charity stripe. Jacques Conceicao led a balanced first-half attack with nine points and five rebounds for William Paterson.

FDU-Florham weathered an early second-half storm from the Pioneers that included a powerful two-handed slam from Terik Bridgeman. Trailing 72-62 with 5:30 to play, the Devils sprung to life with a 7-1 run.

Jones sparked the comeback with a layup and then set up Herdman for a three-ball. Next, Lassiter drained a jumper and Herdman fought through traffic to finish a difficult layup to bring the Devils within four.

Following a layup from Coceicao, Furlong responded by burying a 3-pointer, which cut the Pioneers' lead to 75-72 with 1:20 to go. However, FDU-Florham was unable to get any closer and the Pioneers closed out the game at the free throw line.

Bridgeman paced the Pioneers in the victory with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting. The Pioneers' junior forward added eight rebounds to his ledger in the win.

In defeat, Furlong handed out a team-best five assists, while sophomore forward
Donte Ali (Willingboro, N.J.) narrowly missed a double-double with 10 points and nine boards.

Next up for the Devils:
FDU-Florham heads to Sale State University for a weekend tournament, which begsin on December 29^th at 7 p.m.