BROOKLYN, NY – For the second contest in a row, the Saint Peter's University men's basketball team never trailed, en route to a 70-64 road win over non-conference rival St. Francis Brooklyn (SFC) on Wednesday afternoon to conclude the calendar year and out of conference campaign. The Peacock's overall record on the season improved to 6-3 and the win gave Saint Peter's a 3-2 non-conference record.
Fousseyni Drame and
Doug Edert both paced the tilt with game-highs of 18 points and
KC Ndefo recorded the team's first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The Basics
Score: Saint Peter's 70, St. Francis Brooklyn 64
Records: Saint Peter's (6-3, 3-1 MAAC) | SFC (2-3, 2-2 NEC)
Location: Daniel Lynch Gymnasium | Brooklyn, NY
How It Happened
- The Peacocks quickly outscored the Terriers 6-0 in the opening minutes by way of three consecutive baskets in the paint.
- F. Drame made the game's opening layup, followed by a coast to coast transition dunk by Ndefo, and finally a driving layup by Matthew Lee would account for the six points.
- All five starters would eventually contribute to the scoreboard after Daryl Banks III (6) and Edert (7), scored Saint Peter's next 13 straight points to extend the lead over SFC to 19-12.
- The lead grew to 10-points, the largest of the half, with 7:23 on the clock when Marty Silvera hit Hassan Drame for an easy layup (25-15).
- SFC would close the gap and get to within one-possession, but Saint Peter's scored eight of the final 13 points in the half to take a 35-29 lead into the break.
- The forward trio of the Drame twins and Ndefo were at the forefront of the Peacocks offense at the start of the second half.
- The threesome combined to score 17 out of 20 points, helping to match Saint Peter's largest lead of 10 points (55-45) in the afternoon with 8:23 to go.
- Fousseyni led the way with nine points, while both Hassan and Ndefo scored four points each.
- Over the next three minutes, the Peacocks went on a scoring slump which allowed SFC to pull within three-points again (55-52).
- Saint Peter's eventually recovered, scoring five straight and then putting together an 11-4 rally to regain the double-figure advantage of 66-56 with just under two minutes remaining.
- Five points would be the closest the home side could get within from that point on as the Peacocks held on for the 70-64 win.
Notes
- F. Drame's 18 points came on 8-of-10 (80%) shooting from the floor and he pulled in nine rebounds to just miss out on joining Ndefo with a double-double.
- Half of Edert's 18 came at the charity stripe (9-of-10) while he also hit on his only attempt from beyond the arc in the game.
- In addition to his third career double-double, Ndefo filled the stat sheet with five blocks, three assists, and three steals --- the ninth time in his career that he has swatted away at least five shots.
- Banks and H. Drame added six points apiece to the team tally, with the former dishing out a team-high four helpers in the victory.
- Saint Peter's held the edge for over 97 percent of the game, leading for 38:54 in the convincing win.
- On the offensive side of things, the Peacocks made 27-of-53 (50.9%) field goal attempts --- the best shooting percentage for the team this season.
- 48 out of the 70 points were scored in the paint for Saint Peter's, with the team only attempting a season-low seven triples, well below the 22.1 three-point field goal attempts per game average.
- The win improved the Peacocks out of conference mark to 3-2, giving the program its first non-conference regular season winning record since going 5-4 in 2004-05, albeit a shortened season due to COVID-19.
Up Next
Saint Peter's will resume its MAAC slate in the New Year with a road series at Canisius on Jan 1-2. The teams will meet in Western New York at 1pm both days.
