NEWARK, N.J. (November 19, 2016) – The FDU-Florham men's basketball team earned its first win of the season, topping Rutgers-Newark 70-68 in the consolation final of the John K. Adams Tip-Off Classic Saturday.

The Devils moved to 1-2, while RU-N fell to 0-3.

FDU never trailed in the first half, leading by as many as eight in the opening 20 minutes of play. Sophomore Derek Leohner capped off a 6-0 run with 7:19 left in the first half putting the guests up by eight.  A pair of Scarlet Raider free throws with 2:06 left trimmed the FDU lead in half, but senior Donte Ali scored the final three points of the stanza, sending FDU into the half with a seven-point lead.

Ali converted the first four points of the second half, pushing the FDU lead to double-digits. The hosts used a mid-half 19-7 spurt to take their first lead of the afternoon. London Gaines of RU hit a layup with 5:31 left to stretch the RU-N lead to three, their largest edge of the day.

FDU would go on an 8-0 run to take the lead for good, as sophomore Anthony Mitchell had a pair of layups during the run. Newark would tally the next four, but Ali hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, RU-N missed two chances to tie the game in the final 19 seconds to give FDU the win.

Ali led the Devils with 19 points and five rebounds, with Leohner adding 16. Senior James Moran filled the stat-sheet with 11 points, seven boards, six assists and two blocks in the victory.

Tyler Ofray led the Scarlet Raiders with 28 points, while Gaines and Mark Thomas each had 11.

The Devils are back in action on Tuesday, welcoming the Stevens Institute of Technology at 6 p.m.