Balanced Scoring Guides Men’s Basketball to Convincing Win Over In-State Rival FDU

Post Game Press Conference

JERSEY CITY, NJ – The Saint Peter's men's basketball team dominated local in-state rival Fairleigh Dickinson University on Wednesday night, earning an 86-70 blowout win over the Knights. Four Peacocks scored in double figures, while 10 different Saint Peter's players recorded at least two points in the win.
 
What Went Down

• Saint Peter's struck first when Fousseyni Drame went coast to coast pulling down a defensive rebound and driving straight to the rim for a transition layup to start the game. 
• The teams would remain level, with FDU answering each time the Peacocks regained the lead through the first 12 minutes. 
• Evened up at 19-19, Quinn Taylor connected on a jumper, which followed by a putback two handed slam dunk from F. Drame on a fastbreak, extending the Peacocks lead to 23-19. 
• Still leading by four late in the half, Doug Edert dropped in a three-pointer and Matthew Lee converted an old-fashioned three-point play to put the home team up 42-34 at the break. 
• Saint Peter's got straight to work in the second half. Right out of the locker room, Edert found Derrick Woods in the paint for a two-handed slam dunk. 
• On the very next possession, Edert found Lee for the wide open triple, giving the Peacocks a 47-36 lead.
• Over a four minute stretch, Saint Peter's pieced together a 13-5 run, going 5-for-6 from the floor with F. Drame (7 points) and Taylor (5 points) leading the charge. The run would extend the lead to 60-43, giving the Peacocks a 17-point cushion. 
• The men remained ahead by 17 when FDU had its best scoring rally of the night (a 6-0 run), cutting the deficit to 11 with 8:26 to go.
• In response to the Knight's slim run, Saint Peter's scored 11 points in 1:42 with Edert draining back-to-back trifectas, Woods hitting a jumper, and Lee knocking down a three to put the team ahead by 18 points (Saint Peter's largest lead of the night). 
• The score would never get any closer than 12 over the game's final six minutes, and the Peacocks sealed the victory by making 8-of-11 free throws down the stretch to secure the 86-70 win.

 
Inside the Numbers

• For the second time this season, Saint Peter's had four players score in double digits. Woods led the way with a career-high 17 points and 10 team-leading rebounds --- his first career double-double. F. Drame followed with his career-best, 15 points and was a rebound shy of a double-double after grabbing nine boards, also a career mark. Edert was right behind, scoring 14 points on a perfect 4-for-4 performance from beyond the arc and perfect 2-for-2 showing from the charity stripe, while dishing out a team-best five assists. Taylor completed the quartet of scorers while also stuffing the stat sheet with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block.
• Lee just missed double figures, scoring nine points, and adding six rebounds and four helpers.
• On the evening, Saint Peter's had by far its best offensive outing of the ledger, destroying its season averages by a wide margin. The team scored a season-high 86 points (averaged 60.8 ppg), shot 52 percent from the floor (averaged 33.3%), and shot 52.9 percent from three (averaged 33%). The team was also in a giving mood during this holiday season, handing out a season-best 15 assists.  
• The home squad owned the game's time of possession, controlling the clock for 34:05 compared to just over two minutes for the visiting team. 
• For the third straight game, the Peacocks won the rebounding battle, dominating the glass to the tune of a 45-22 advantage. 
• Saint Peter's, which entered the game ranked sixth in the nation in offensive rebounding (15.2 offensive rebounds per game), was right on par with its average, grabbing 15 offensive boards on the night, which also led to 12 second chance points.

 
Up Next

• The Peacocks will be away from the Yanitelli Center for the remainder of the month and 2019 with four straight road contests.
• The stretch begins with UConn on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m.