MADISON, N.J. – The FDU-Florham men's basketball got off to one of their best starts all season, but struggled to hold onto their early lead and ultimately fell to the Wilkes University Colonels 86-75 on Saturday afternoon in a Freedom Conference matchup at the Ferguson Recreation Center.

As soon as the clock began to run, sophomore forward Donte Ali (Willingboro, N.J.) stole the show and had himself a career game, shooting 8-of-12 from the field and scoring a career-high 20 points to go along with 11 rebounds. The Colonels (8-9, 3-3 Freedom) had no answer for Ali, who was virtually unstoppable in the paint, scoring 10 points in the first five minutes of the game.

With an early lead, the Devils (1-16, 0-6) comfortably settled in and continued to add to their score by making eight of their 10 first shots. A 10-2 run by FDU-Florham increased its lead to 10 with 12 minutes to play in the first half.

The Devils saw a lot of success on the offensive end, but it was their defense that had a hard time containing the Colonels' shooters from beyond the arc. The Colonels managed to shoot 10-of-21 from behind the 3-point line in the game.

After cutting the deficit to single-digits, the Colonels began to build off the momentum and took off on a 16-4 run. Alec Wizar knocked down two 3-pointers in less than 10 seconds for Wilkes, which knotted the game up at 35-35.

It wasn't until the three minute mark that the Colonels finally gained the lead after another 3-pointer was put in, but this time by Tyler Jackson, who had 21 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the contest.

At the half, the Devils found themselves down five and the Colonels did not let up as they went on 14-2 run that was started late in the first half and carried on for the first few minutes of the second.

Ali went back to work, trying to will the Devils to a comeback by throwing down a dunk off an assist from senior guard Kevin Furlong (Hazlet, N.J.). However, with a 17 point lead and only five minutes to play in the game, the Colonels controlled the clock and warded off all the Devils attempts to mount a run.

Freshman forward Ryan Rigby (Bristol, Pa.) had a career-high 16 points in the game for the Devils, while Furlong added 14 points to go along with six assists, five rebounds and six steals.

The Devils, who are still in search of their first Freedom Conference victory, will travel to Purchase, N.Y. for their next matchup, to take on Manhattanville College on Wednesday, January 28, at 8 p.m.