FDU’s incredible NCAA tournament run came to an end on Sunday night. Florida Atlantic held off a furious second-half run by the 16th-seeded Knights to win 78-70. The Owls will now advance to the Sweet 16 in New York’s Madison Square Garden, where they will play Tennessee.
Photo Cred: New York Post Photo Cred: NCAA.com
Farleigh Dickinson nearly delivered another shocker two days after pulling off one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history (a 63-58 win against East #1 seed Purdue). Covering the end of the first half and the beginning of the second, FDU utilized a 12-1 run to grab its first lead of the game. The go-ahead shot came on a three-pointer hit by Joe Munden Jr. with 18 minutes left to play.
Photo Creds: (L) The New York Times, (R) yaktrinews.com (Munden Jr., FDU #1)
Florida Atlantic eventually pulled away thanks to guard Johnell Davis’ historically productive performance. He finished with 29 points on the night. Demetre Roberts, a senior guard, scored 20 points to lead FDU. Roberts was one of three players who coach Tobin Anderson recruited from Division II St. Thomas Aquinas College after taking over at FDU before this season. The other two were guard Grant Singleton and forward Sean Moore.
Photo Cred: New York Post (Davis, Florida Atlantic #1) Photo Cred: Lohud (Roberts)
This season, the Knights had five new starters, including Roberts, Singleton, and Moore. Those three combined to score 40 points in the defeat. FDU won two tournament games in the previous five days alone, including Wednesday’s play-in victory over Texas Southern in Dayton. This was an absolutely splendid surprise for Farleigh Dickinson, who only won four games all of last season! It was good while it lasted, and it’s safe to say that we were all entertained while this Cinderella run occurred!
Photo Cred: FDU Knights Photo Cred: Fox News
