wMadison, NJ (February 14) – Both teams were neck and neck in the first half and were at a 36-36 stale mate going into the second half, but Arcadia (16-8, 9-4 MAC Freedom) was able to push through and top FDU-Florham (4-20, 1-12 MAC Freedom) men's basketball 78-63 on Wednesday night.  
 
FDU-Florham was once again led by Carson Woods (Phoenix, AZ) who scored a team-high 19 points while Brian Nichols (Roxbury, NJ) followed by scoring 13. Michael Dabas (Middletown, NJ) and Nichols both notched a team-high seven rebounds leading FDU defensively for the day. Misericordia saw five players reach double-digit points and four of those five all reached 14 points.
  
FDU-Florham was able to take the early advantage after Nichols sank a three-pointer and Jaqwan Washington (Bryan TX) made a free throw. Shortly after, Andrew Piombino Jr. (Rockaway, NJ) made two back-to-back three-pointers that allowed the Devils to extend their lead 10-3. For the rest of the first half both teams continuously exchanged baskets, and the Devils saw more points from James Zingaro (Stratford, NJ), Joseph Carney (Garwood, NJ), Jamal Santana (Randolph, NJ), Woods, and Nichols. FDU was able to hold the lead until less than a minute left when Arcadia went on a 9-2 run to tie the game 34-34 that ended with a dunk from Arcadia's Joshua Okocha. Woods was able to take the lead right back after going two for two on free throws with 30 seconds left, but Arcadia's Darius Isaac sank a jumper with two seconds left. This Arcadia and FDU-Florham going into halftime tied 36-36.
 
Arcadia started the second half off on fire, going on a 9-1 run to take the lead 45-37 at the 18:21 mark. This did not stop the Devils though as they went on to score seven unanswered points to cut the Knights lead down to one at the 16:45 mark. This run is credited to baskets from Washington, Nichols, and Piombino. With 12:15 remaining in the game Christopher Smith (Florham Park, NJ) tied the game 51-51 after making a layup. However, Arcadia then went on to score 12 unanswered points for a 63-53 advantage. After a few more baskets from the Devils, the Knights went on a 10-2 run that ended with 3:37 left in the game. Throughout the remaining minutes the Devils saw more baskets Woods, Nichols, and Santana. Unfortunately, Fairleigh Dickinson could not get any closer to the Knights, they had early in the second half, and Arcadia went on to beat the Devils for the 78-63 MAC Freedom victory. 
  
FDU shot 44 percent (22-for-50) from the floor, 35.7 percent (5-for-14) from three-point range, and 60.9 (14-for-23) from the free throw line. The Devils scored 32 points in the paint and received nine of their points off the bench. 
  
Arcadia shot 43.1 percent (28-for-65) from the floor, 38.5 percent (10-for-26) from behind the arc, and 54.5 percent (12-for-22) from the free throw line. The Cougars scored 28 of their 78 points in the paint and received 17 points off the bench. 
  
FDU-Florham returns home for their next contest to honor their seniors and close out MAC Freedom play against Stevens on Saturday, February 17. The matchup is scheduled to tip off at 3:00 pm.  
 
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