CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – A short-handed Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham men's basketball team fought valiantly but came up short in an 85-76 loss at DeSales University on Saturday.
 
The Devils (4-18, 2-10 MAC Freedom) dug themselves a hole in the first half and were unable to overcome the deficit as the Bulldogs (17-6, 9-3 MAC Freedom) held on for the win.
 
Three Devils tallied double-figures led by freshman guard Anthony Mitchell's 17-point effort. Fellow freshman Tyler Christie chipped in with 16 points, while junior forward Donte Ali added 15 points and seven boards in the loss.
 
DeSales' Kuity Slanger topped all scorers with 20 points on 60 percent shooting. The talented Bulldogs guard tallied a double-double with 11 rebounds and also added five assists to his ledger in the victory.
 
Celebrating their annual senior day, the Bulldogs stormed out of the gates by scoring the first 14 points of the contest. Over that stretch, the home team could not have been any hotter, knocking down 5-of-6 shots, including 4-of-4 from long range.
 
Senior forward Cody Deal enjoyed his senior day by scoring nine points during the Bulldogs' opening run. Deal finished with 15 points on the afternoon.
 
Midway through the half, the Devils counter-punched with a 10-0 run of their own highlighted by Mitchell's 3-pointer.
 
The Devils' momentum continued and they piled on with a 17-3 stretch on 7-of-9 shooting to move in front 31-26 with 5:09 to play in the opening half. A trey by Christie capped the run for FDU-Florham but unfortunately, the lead would not last.
 
DeSales responded with eight straight points and scored 18 of the final 22 points of the stanza to take a 44-35 advantage into the break.
 
The Bulldogs maintained a safe distance for most of the second half and after a Christie three-ball brought the Devils within two (67-65) with 3:42 to go, DeSales closed out the win at the free throw line.
 
DeSales made the most of its trips to the charity stripe, knocking down 27-of-33 (81.8%) in the win. The home team displayed consistency shooting the basketball with nearly 44 percent field goal percentages in each half, while the Devils cooled down to 34 percent in the second stanza after a 42 percent effort in the opening half.
 
The Devils return home for their senior day game and final home contest of the season this Wednesday, February 16 against Wilkes University at 8 p.m.