MADISON, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham men's basketball team went cold down the stretch and could not hold off College of Staten Island in an 85-61 loss at the Ferguson Recreation Center on Thursday night.
The Devils (3-10) led 62-61 with 10 minutes to go but finished the game in a 0-for-10 funk as the Dolphins (9-4) closed the game with 26 straight points to earn the victory.
Junior forward Donte Ali led the Devils with 19 points and six rebounds, while sophomore guard Steve Herdman chipped in with 17 points and three boards in the loss.
CSI forward Will Fonseca poured in 18 of his game-high 28 points in the momentum-swinging second half. Fonseca also added nine rebounds and three helpers on the night.
The first half was neck-and–neck with each team countering a small run by the opposition. Tied at 24-24, the Dolphins briefly pulled away for a six-point advantage but the Devils scored the final six points of the stanza, including a last second jumper by Alex Hanssen, which gave them a slim 39-38 edge at the break.
Both teams shot well in the opening stanza with the Dolphins knocking down shots at a 47 percent clip and the home Devils at 44 percent. Fonseca scored 10 points in just six minutes of action for the Dolphins, while Herdman was red-hot for FDU-Florham with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting including a pair of treys.
The tightly contested matchup continued until the midway point of the second half. Freshman point guard Jayson Hughes knocked down a nifty floater in the paint, which briefly put the Devils in front, 61-60. Unfortunately, Hughes' bucket concluded the scoring for the Devils, who were blanked over the game's final 9:22 of action.
With the Devils scuffling offensively, the Dolphins pounced on their opportunity. Fonseca drained a go-ahead 3-pointer with nine minutes to go as CSI scored the final 26 points of the game en route to the victory.
Khaleequ Baum gave the Devils fits on the glass with six of his 12 boards coming at the offensive end of the floor. The CSI big man finished with a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.
The Devils received a spark from reserve forward James Moran, who corralled seven rebounds and blocked a career-high four shots on the night. Moran used his length to frustrate the CSI post players throughout his 27 minutes of action.
FDU-Florham will look to snap its five-game skid when it returns to MAC Freedom action in its next contest on Wednesday, January 13 against Eastern University at 8 p.m. in St. Davids, Pa.
