Box Score HACKENSACK, N.J. – Desi Washington (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin [Delaware State]) scored a season-high 21 points, including eight points down the stretch to power Saint Peter's past Fairleigh Dickinson 67-63 in non-conference men's basketball action on Saturday night.
Washington finished 5-for-10 from the floor, 3 of 5 from 3-point land and 8 of 10 from the free throw line en route to his eighth 20-point performance in a Peacocks (1-3) uniform. The junior scored eight points in the final four minutes and 24 seconds, including the go-ahead trey with 4:24 on the clock and a shot-clock expiring triple to help give Saint Peter's an eight-point lead with 2:34 remaining.
Marvin Dominique (Miramar, Fla./Miramar [Fordham]) notched his second career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds while Quadir Welton (Philadelphia, Pa./Math, Science and Civics Charter) tallied nine points and seven rebounds and Jamel Fields (Albany, N.Y./Cheshire Academy [Fairfield]) chipped in nine points in the winning effort.
Sidney Sanders, Jr. paced the Knights (1-5) with 19 points in the loss.
In a closely-contested game, Saint Peter's scored eight unanswered points in the waning minutes of the game to take the lead en route to ending Fairleigh Dickinson's two-game win streak in the series.
With the game tied at 50, the Peacocks went on an 8-0 run to take the lead it would not relinquish.
Washington gave Saint Peter's the lead for good on a 3-pointer at 4:24. After Welton drained two free throws with 4:02 on the clock, Washington hit a deep 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to hand the Peacocks a 58-50 advantage.
Sanders did his best to keep the Knights in the game, scoring 11 points in a two-minute stretch to trim the margin to 66-63 with 17 seconds remaining, but Washington sealed the win by making the front end of two free throws with 12 ticks on the clock for the 67-63 victory despite the Peacocks going 3 of 6 in the final minute from the free throw line.
In the first half trailing 13-11 after a 3-ball from the Knights' Matt MacDonald at 9:23, the Peacocks used a 12-0 run to take the lead for the rest of the first half.
Washington started the spurt with two free throws at 8:37 to tie the game at 13. Welton then gave Saint Peter's the lead with a put-back basket at 7:55. After Vic Adams (West Palm Beach, Fla./William T. Dwyer [Dodge City Community College) converted two free throws at 7:31, Welton scored in the lane again at 6:49. Fields capped the run with four-straight charity tosses at 6:18 and 18 seconds later to give the Peacocks a 23-13 lead.
The Knights scored 13 of the final 20 points in the last six minutes of the stanza to close the gap to 33-29 going into the locker room. Xavier Harris and Malachi Nix each had four points in the stretch.
Fairleigh Dickinson used a 10-3 run to start the second half to take a 39-36 lead with 16:23 left in the game. The two teams then wrestled for the lead with the Knights taking a 45-41 lead at 12:16 and Saint Peter's responding with a 7-0 run to take a 48-45 edge after two Washington free throws. Sanders tied the game at 50 on two free throws, but Washington aided an 8-0 run with two baskets from behind the arc en route to a 67-63 victory.
The Peacocks are 6-2 when Washington scored 20-points in a game.
Adams and Tyler Gaskins (Roswell, Ga./Centennial [Lawson State]) each made their Saint Peter's debut in the contest. The Peacocks played 11 players on the night.
Saint Peter's will return home to the Yanitelli Center to host Binghamton on Tuesday night. Game time is 7 p.m. The Bearcats (1-4) are coming off a 69-63 loss against Radford in Vestal, N.Y., on Saturday afternoon.
