MADISON, NJ (February 11, 2020)- FDU Men's Basketball opened the 2021 Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom campaign, falling to Lycoming College, 79-54. With the loss, the Devils fall to 0-1 (0-1) on the young season, while the Warriors improve to 1-0 (1-0).
 
First Half
The Devils got the scoring started thanks to first-year, Gerard Nicholson, recording his first collegiate basket. After the Warriors rattled off six straight points, FDU first-year, Matthew Johnson got in on the action, knocking down his first career basket off an assist from senior, Cameron Saintil, closing the gap to 6-4. It was Johnson again at the 13:34 mark, ending another Lycoming run and cutting the score to 14-6. After another Nicholson basket, both teams would exchange points, bringing the contest to 20-10 with 9:07 remaining. It was Johnson again with the response, scoring at the 8:13 mark, followed by senior, Oliver Ortman hitting his first basket of the season. After Lycoming extended the lead to 14 with 5:16 remaining in the half, Johnson responded, hitting from three off an assist from first-year, Brian Nichols. With 3:36 remaining the Warriors brought the lead back to 15,  before the Devils got hot. Ortman hit two baskets, Nichols hit from three and knocked down two free throws, cutting the Lycoming lead to 35-29, going into the halftime break.
 
Second Half
20-seconds into the second half, Lycoming was back on the board, scoring eight straight points to bring their lead back to 14. After another Johnson three-point basket with 15-minutes remaining, FDU again cut the lead to single digits, 47-39, the smallest margin in the second half. The Warriors would go on to outscore FDU 32-15 down the stretch to complete their first victory of the season, 79-54.
 
Lead Devil
In his first collegiate contest, Johnson led the way for the Devils, finishing with 21 points on 8-of-12 (67%) from the field, 2-of-4 (50%) from beyond the arc and eight rebounds.
 
From Coach
"I'm proud of our guys commitment to protecting themselves and being safe to allow us to get to this point where we can compete again. I thought we played hard, but we made far too many mistakes, took some bad shots and a good team like Lycoming will make you pay for each of those." - Head Coach, Jeff Slanovec
 
Next Up
The Devils return to action tomorrow, February 12 at 7:00 pm when they travel to Lycoming for the second game of their MAC Freedom opening weekend schedule.