EWING, N.J. (January 9, 2017) – The FDU men's basketball team fell to in-state rival TCNJ 87-65 in non-conference action Monday.

The Devils drop to 4-9, while the Lions improve 9-5. Senior Donte Ali led FDU with 14 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Anthony Mitchell added 13 points. Junior Veon Lassiter and freshman Joe Duffy each added eight points off the bench, with Lassiter pulling down five boards.

The opening half saw neither go ahead by more than five points, and both teams shot above 45 percent from the field through the opening 20. Duffy scored all eight of his points in a 2:33 stretch in the first half, connecting on a pair from behind the arc.

With the score tied at 28, FDU scored the next five, capped off with a trey from sophomore Derek Leohner. A Mitchell layup with 1:28 left closed out first half scoring and sent FDU to the locker room with a three-point edge. Mitchell and Duffy led the team with eight first half markers, as Leohner had two first half thefts.

A trey by junior Steve Herdman at 14:51 gave the Devils a 46-44 lead, TCNJ went on a game-changing 13-0 run, putting the hosts up 11. Ali would score four in a row for the Devils, but that was as close as FDU got on the evening, as an additional 11-0 spurt by TCNJ held the Devils to no points over a four-minute stretch near the end of the game.

FDU is back in action on Wednesday, traveling to take on King's at 8 p.m.