HACKENSACK, NJ – The St. Francis College Brooklyn men's basketball team (6-8, 6-7 NEC) fast-pace style of play was on full display as it picked up a crucial conference win over Tri-state area foe Fairleigh Dickinson (7-12, 6-7 NEC), 83-75, on Tuesday night. The victory puts the Terriers in sixth-place in the conference standings as they continue to battle for a playoff spot down the stretch of the season.
St. Francis was led by the trio of
Unique McLean,
Chauncey Hawkins, and
Travis Atson, who accounted for 66 of the Terriers' 83 points in the win. McLean scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds. The 6-foot-2, guard beat the Knights inside with a pair of dunks, as well as outside with three three-pointers.
Hawkins, St. Francis' floor general finished the game with 22 points, six assists, and five rebounds. The guard got to the free-throw line 13 times and knocked down 10 of those attempts as he did the majority of his damage going to the hoop, creating plays for the Terriers.
Atson came through with timely buckets for the Terriers as he finished with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting, which included three made three-pointers. Atson's scoring prowess was on display once again for St. Francis as it was the ninth time this season that he scored 15 or more points in a game. His scoring was balanced throughout the evening, with 10 of his points coming in the first half, and the rest coming in the second half.
The fast-pace of play was evident from the opening tip as both teams looked to run out of the gate. Both teams traded blows in the first half as they both took leads, just to have it erased by the other who struck right back.
Neither team led by more than five points in the first half of play as the Terriers took a narrow 42-41 lead into the halftime break. St. Francis took the lead at the break thanks to Hawkins getting fouled from behind the arc with less than a second to go. The senior knocked down two of his three attempts from the line to give the Terriers a one-point halftime lead.
The pace of play proved to be no different in second half as both teams continued to run after the break. After the teams traded baskets for over the first 22 minutes of play, the Terriers began to build a lead and at the 14:40 mark in the second half were out in front, 56-49, which marked the biggest lead in the game up until that point.
St. Francis maintained the seven-point lead as the half progressed and eventually added to the advantage, which grew to as large as 12 points, 76-64, with 4:59 to play. From there, the Terriers began to slow the ball game down and took time off the clock in an attempt to ice the game.
With 2:30 to play in the game and St. Francis leading by seven, Hawkins converted a long two-pointer from just inside the three-point arc to beat the 30-second shot clock. That shot proved to be the dagger for the Terriers as they closed out their sixth win of the season and held on by the final score of 83-75.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
St. Francis Brooklyn – 83 | Fairleigh Dickinson – 75
- McLean tallied an aforementioned career and team-high 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field, 3-of-5 shooting from three, and 4-of-4 shooting from the free-throw line. The guard pulled down eight rebounds in 33 minutes of play. The 25 points marked his second-career 20-plus point scoring output as a Terrier and his first since February 8, 2020, when he scored 21 points against Mount St. Mary's.
- Hawkins filled the stat sheet in the win with 22 points, six assists, and five assists. It was just the second time in his career that he finished a game with at least 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists (first time came against Wagner on Feb. 23, 2020). The guard knocked down 10-of-13 from the free-throw line and moved into second-place on the Terriers' all-time made free-throws list with 340. He past Richy Dominguez who knocked down 337 free-throws in his career. It was just the third time in his career the he made 10 or more free-throws in a game (vs. Lafayette on Nov. 9, 2019, at CCSU on Feb. 29, 2020). He became the seventh player in the NEC this season to make 10 or more free-throws in a game. With his 22 points he moved into 17th-place on the Terriers' all-time scoring list with 1,168 career points passing Jamaal Womack.
- Atson came through with another big game with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting, which included going 3-of-4 from behind the arc. The guard/forward shot a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line and pulled down six rebounds in 25 minutes of play. Atson has scored 15 or more points in a game nine times as a Terrier and has done so in three of his last four contests. Over the Terriers' last four game he is averaging 18.0 points per game.
- Senior forward Yaradyah Evans tallied solid minutes for St. Francis as he finished the game with four points and a season-high 12 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench. Evans pulled down a crucial five offensive rebounds in the game which led to extra possessions for the Terriers.
- Junior forward Vuk Stevanic registered six points and a career-high six assists in 20 minutes. Fellow junior, David Muenkat came off the bench and pulled down seven rebounds (three offensive) in 20 minutes.
- As a team the Terriers knocked down 10 three-pointers and dished out 20 assists, both were season-highs.
- St. Francis forced 15 turnovers, which led to 19 points en route to the win.
- Coach Glenn Braica earned his 99th career win in NEC play, which are the most by an active Head Coach in the league. He would become just the 10th coach in conference history to reach the 100-win plateau in league play and just the second coach in program history who would do so. Braica would join former Terriers' Head Coach Ron Ganulin who picked up 129 wins in NEC play, which are the third-most in conference history.
UP NEXT:
The Terriers are back on the court tomorrow, Wednesday, February 17, at 7 p.m., against Fairleigh Dickinson in Hackensack, NJ. The game will broadcast on NECFrontRow.com.
