Veon Lassister's Game-Winning Shot
MADISON, N.J. – When the final buzzer sounded, the Devils' fans rose to their feet in sheer excitement as the ball had just traveled through the net off of a clutch game-winning basket by sophomore forward Veon Lassiter that gave the FDU-Florham men's basketball team a 71-70 MAC Freedom victory over the Misericordia Cougars on Wednesday night at the Ferguson Recreation Center.
Lassiter ended the game with a near double-double, tallying 13 points and a team-high nine boards. Pairing with Lassiter down low was junior forward Donte Ali, who provided a game-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field to go along with eight boards, two steals and two blocks.
The Devils (2-4, 1-0 MAC Freedom) had the Cougars' (3-5, 0-1 MAC Freedom) number in the first half, holding them to just 30 percent shooting. Meanwhile, FDU-Florham had no issues scoring and following seven straight points from freshman guard Derek Leohner, the Devils had a commanding 20-7 advantage with 12 minutes remaining in the opening stanza.
In the second half, the Cougars' offense started to find its rhythm as they went on a 14-5 run to work their way back into the game.
With just under five minutes left to play in the contest, the Cougars knotted the game up at 62 apiece after a DJ Marlow layup. Misericordia went on to grab their first lead since the early portion of the game once the towering James Hawk tipped in a missed shot.
The Devils responded with a score by Ali and the two teams continued to battle back and forth. Trailing by one point with 1:49 on the clock, freshman guard Jayson Hughes controlled the ball and sent a no look pass to Ali under the basket and he laid it in for the timely score.
However, the Cougars guard, Griffin Sponaugle, drove down the court and he drew contact while attacking the basket, earning himself a trip to the free throw line. Sponaugle knocked down both foul shots, but the Devils answered with Ali's third consecutive score down low after he drove past a defender and put it in the basket to put FDU-Florham up by one.
The Cougars found themselves back at the free throw line with nine seconds remaining and Marlow buried both of them.
Following the made foul shots, sophomore guard Steve Herdman checked into the game. He grabbed the ball and brought it down the court, but it was knocked out of his hands and out of bounds on the baseline with three seconds left to play.
Anthony Mitchell inbounded the ball to Herdman on the baseline and he threw up an unbalanced contested shot that sailed to the right of the rim. However, Lassiter leaped into the air and put a soft touch on the ball, sending it into the basket to seal the Devils the 71-70 thrilling victory over the Cougars.
The Devils will return to action on Saturday, December 5 when they travel to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. for a MAC Freedom showdown with King's College at 3 p.m.
