Box Score A five-minute scoring drought by the Peacocks in the final seven minutes of the second stanza allowed the visiting Fairleigh Dickinson University Knights to come from behind and defeat the hosts, 66-61, this evening.
With the loss, the Peacocks drop their third straight contest and fall to 3-3 on the year, while the Knights improve to 3-3.
Saint Peter's led by as many as 7 points five minutes into the second half and managed to fend off multiple Knight runs, until a 7-2 run gave the visitors their first lead (51-49, 7:22) since the first half. The Peacocks had the chance to regain their advantage soon thereafter, but missed back-to-back layups and went 0-4 from the line in the last two minutes of play.
Seniors Blaise Ffrench and Darius Conley did come through with late-game heroics, combining for six points in the final 45 seconds, but it would be insufficient as the Knights went 7-12 in free throw attempts during the last minute to ice the win.
Ffrench led the squad in scoring for the third time this season, recording 17 points, while pulling down 6 rebounds. He added 3 assists and 3 steals.
Conley and Desi Washington also finished in double figures, recording 10 and 13 points, respectively.
Both teams concluded the game with better shooting percentages from long distance than from the field. The Peacocks shot 45.5% from three-point range, 39.7% from the floor, while the Knights went 50% from beyond the arc, and 45.5% from the field.
Fairleigh Dickinson performed better from the line compared to the hosts, draining 19-27 free throw attempts (70.4), while Saint Peter's managed to connect on just 31.6% of their tries (6-19).
The Peacocks opened up the game with a 5-0 advantage, until the Knights recorded their first points of the contest on two made free throws by Kinu Rochford. At the 14:24 mark, senior forward Yvon Raymond came up with a steal and proceed to put down a two-handed jam to put the Peacocks in front 11-4 and force Fairleigh Dickinson Head Coach Greg Vetrone to call a timeout. The hosts maintained a comfortable lead until FDU's Mustafaa Jones drained a trey at the top of the key to make it a two-point game (11-9). A transition basket by FDU off a missed three-ball from Desi Washington tied the game at 11-11 nearing the mid-way point of the stanza.
Washington regained the lead for the Peacocks on the following possession on a three from the left wing, and a fast-break layup off a steal by freshman Chazz Patterson recaptured a five-point cushion for the hosts (16-11). Saint Peter's maintained the lead until a 9-0 spurt from the Knights made the score 20-16 in their favor and forced a Peacock timeout.
The Knights led by as many as six points, but back to back three-balls from Chris Burke and Washington made it a tie game (25-25) with just under five minutes to play. Four lead changes and two tied scores would take place before the Peacocks entered the half-time break with a 33-31 edge.
Desi Washington recorded 10 of his 13 points in the first half on 4-7 shooting, 2-3 from long distance.
As a team, Saint Peter's shot a staggering 80% from three point range in the first half, connecting on 4-5 attempts. From the field, the hosts shot 46.4%. Saint Peter's managed to out-shoot FDU in the stanza, as the Knights recorded a 45.8% shooting percentage from the floor, 50% from three-point range.
In the second half, the Peacocks maintained their advantage, until the Knights formed an 8-3 run, capped by a three-point field goal by Jones off the dish from Lonne Robinson at 7:22, to go ahead 51-49.
Saint Peter's managed to tie the game (51-51) following a layup by Darius Conley, but the Peacocks failed to convert back-to-back layups to reclaim a lead over the next minute. FDU went ahead by a digit after Melquan Bolding went 1-2 from the line and extended their advantage to four after Rochford converted a conventional three-point play (3:58).
Ffrench broke a five and a half minute scoring drought for the home team, draining an elbow jumper to make the score 59-53 with 1:42 on the clock. During the dry spell, the Peacocks went 0-9 from the field and missed all four free throw attempts they were awarded. The Knights scored on the other end of the court, but Raymond brought Saint Peter's within four again with just over a minute to play. A long two-point basket by Conley with 15 seconds remaining kept it a one-possession game until Bolding sank both of his free throws to secure the victory.
FDU was led by Rochford's double-double of 19 points, 10 rebounds.
The Peacocks out-rebounded the Knights by a 36-35 margin and forced 14 turnovers while committing 10.
Saint Peter's returns to action this Saturday, as they host the Terrers of Boston University for a 2pm tip.
