JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Fairleigh Dickinson made a late run to post a come from behind 66-61 win over St. Peter’s at Yanitelli Center. In a Wednesday night matchup, the visiting Knights earned their third straight victory to even their season record at 3-3.
Our look at the numbers begins with the possessions:
FDU 67
St. Peter’s 69
Offensive Efficiency:
FDU 99
St. Peter’s 88
St. Peter’s posted a respectable defensive efficiency in keeping FDU under 100. On their offensive end, the Peacocks struggled. Kinu Rochford (inside) 19 points and Melquan Bolding (a little inside and out plus 8 of 190 from the line) scored 18 points to pace Greg Vetrone’s club. Blaise Ffrench led St.Peter’s with 17 points.
Shooting. Both teams, strangely enough, shot better from beyond the arc than two-point range. FDU was 7 of 14 (50%) from three and 13 for 30 (44%) from two point range. St. Peter’s shot 5 of 11 (46%) from downtown and 20 of 52 (39%) from two. The free throw shooting, or failure to shoot free throws, on St. Peter’s part was huge. The Peacocks shot 6 of 19 for 32% from the charity stripe. That was a lower percentage than both two-point and three-point shots.
Following a 3-0 start that included a road win at Rutgers, St. Peter’s is now even at 3-3. Coach John Dunne did concede missed layups and free throws were a major factor. Beyond those tangibles Dunne was concerned over execution, or lack of it. “We didn’t make plays and (FDU) did when they had to,” he said. “It looked liked our guys played scared the last two minutes. We missed free throws and easy shots and felt sorry for ourselves.”
St. Peter’s led by seven early in the second half, but the visiting Knights stayed close before making a late run. Dunne said this year’s team has more depth and is in a better position than the five-win team of last year. Execution, though, is a priority. “In a lot of our non-league games and conference games you go to the wire,” he said, “we have to execute better down the stretch.”
St. Peter’s will host two MAAC contenders this coming week: Iona on Wednesday and a “home” date against Loyola at the Izod Center on Saturday.
