Madison, NJ (January 25, 2020)- FDU Men's Basketball defeated Wilkes University at home on Saturday afternoon, 77-70. With the win, the Devils improve to 8-9 overall on the season and 3-3 in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom. The Colonels fall to 8-9 on the season and 1-5 in the MAC Conference.

FIRST HALF
FDU jumped out to an early 7-2 lead thanks to buckets from Senior Andy Fleurantin, Junior Oliver Ortman and a three-pointer from freshman Andrew Schulz. Wilkes had the response going on a 5-0 run to tie the game. After Ortman knocked down two shots from beyond the arc and hit a layup in the lane, FDU extended their lead to eight, 15-7. Again, the Colonels responded, scoring the games next six points to tie the contest at 15. After back and forth play for the next several minutes, Wilkes took its largest lead of the half 24-18 on the heals of a 9-0 run. The Devils would finish the half strong with two separate runs of 10-0 and 12-0 to build a 40-31 lead at half.

SECOND HALF
Freshman Andrew Schulz got the scoring started for FDU with a nice pass from fellow freshman Joseph Nigro. The Devils would continue to tack on thanks to multiple 5-0 runs and a 9-0 run which saw FDU grab their biggest lead of the game, 64-48. Wilkes continued to fight, scoring 24 of the games next 28 points to bring the score to 72-68 with :25 seconds remaining. The devils would hit free-throws down the stretch to seal the 77-70 victory.

LEAD DEVIL
Fleurantin ties his FDU career high in scoring with 33-points on 11-of-13 (85%) from the field and 5-of-6 (83%) from three-point territory.

SUPPORTING CAST
Ortman finished the day with 26 points on 10-of-18 (56%) from the field and knocked down three three-pointers.

TWOS-COMPANY
The combination of Ortman and Fleurantin has been deadly this season, finishing the game today with 59 combined points. This is the second time in as many games the combo has scored over 50.

COACHES THOUGHTS 
"Really excited with the execution of the defensive game plan for most of the game and that allowed us to make a few runs on the offensive end. Our best days are ahead of us if we continue to allow our defense create offense for us." - Head Coach Jeff Slanovec

NEXT UP
FDU travels to the Stevens Institute of Technology for a 6 p.m. MAC Freedom match-up on Wednesday, January 25.