MADISON, N.J. (November 11, 2018) - The FDU-Florham men's basketball team won their home opener to Yeshiva University 69-68, Sunday afternoon at the Ferguson Recreation Center.
FDU levels their record at 1-1, while Yeshiva falls to 0-1
The Devils took a 4-0 lead to open the game after senior
Darren Davy made his first two shots of the afternoon. After trading baskets, senior
Anthony Mitchell hit a jumper from the elbow to give the Devils a five-point lead with 17:26 remaining in the half. This lead was the Devils largest of the half. The Maccabees went on a 11-4 run to take the lead and make the score 17-13 in favor of Yeshiva, but the red-hot Davy, who went 5 for 6 from the field in the first half, drilled a three to cut the deficit to one. Throughout the next three minutes, Yeshiva went on an 11-0 run to extend the lead to double digits. Junior
Kenneth LaRocca's three with 7:08 remaining in the first half stopped the momentum for the Maccabees. Yeshiva extended the lead to 18 with 2:47 left in the half for their largest lead of the game but a 9-0 Devils run made the score 42-33 right before half.
Yeshiva started the second half on an 8-2 run to push the score to 50-35. The teams continued to trade baskets until two Maccabee free throws with 11:38 left in the game extended the lead to 57-41. The 16-point difference was the largest deficit the Devils would face in the second half. A Mitchell jumper, and consecutive layups from sophomore
Ahmad St. Fleur shrunk the deficit down to 10. Down 12 with 7:34, Mitchell hit a jumper from the free throw line and was fouled on the play. The three-point play sparked an incredible run from the Devils, which including back-to-back threes from LaRocca to make it a 66-62 game in favor of Yeshiva with 2:37 left. On the very next possession, Mitchell came up with a steal on a backdoor pass and was fouled on the fast break.
With the Devils in the double bonus Mitchell was awarded two free throws and made them both to make it a two-point game. The Devils completed the comeback on the next possession when senior
Tyler Christie hit a layup with 1:47 on the clock. FDU-Florham took their first lead of the game since the 15:07 mark of the first half, when Mitchell hit two free throws with 69 seconds left in the game. Yeshiva tied the game at 68 with a deep two with 38 seconds on the clock. The Devils used 11 seconds before using a full timeout with 19.9 seconds on the clock. After the timeout, the Devils ran the clock down to 12 seconds before Christie was fouled and sent to the line for two free throws. Christie missed the first one but after a Yeshiva timeout hit the second free throw to put FDU up 69-68. The Maccabees had an opportunity to win the game but the turn-around jumping went long and the Devils earned Coach Slanovec his first win.
Mitchell led the Devils with 23 points and five steals. Davy finished with 19 points whiles shooting 72.7% from the field. LaRocca finished with 11 points while shooting 3-for-5 from deep. The Devils forced the Maccabees to commit 19 turnovers in the game.
The Devils next game will be at home vs. Drew university Tuesday November 13, night at 7 p.m. at the Ferguson Rec. Center.
