Ticket punched: Youngsters lead Fairleigh Dickinson turnaround
Fans of the little guy, the underdog and the have-nots are going to love Fairleigh Dickinson
The Knights completed a remarkable one-year turnaround Tuesday night by toppling top-seeded Wagner in the Northeast Conference tournament championship 87-79 to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament.
Going into the tournament, only one player on the Fairleigh Dickinson roster had previous postseason experience and the program hadn’t won a postseason game since 2006. It has a roster with no seniors and only two juniors.
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Fairleigh Dickinson was picked ninth in the conference preseason poll after finishing last season 8-21 overall and 3-15 in conference play. The Knights have improved this season to 18-14 and 11-7 in the conference and now have earned the ultimate reward for small college programs, getting a chance to go dancing with the big boys.
The Knights are a team with a 223 RPI, zero wins against teams in the RPI top-150 and 11 losses to teams ranked lower than 150. Their reward is either a game against a college basketball powerhouse or a contest in the first four in Dayton, Ohio next week and then a meeting with on the top overall seeds in the tournament.
Wagner led 35-33 at halftime on Tuesday but the Knights surged to the lead five minutes into the second half and never trailed again.
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Sophomores Darian Anderson and Earl Potts Jr., combined to score 55 of Fairleigh Dickinson’s 87 points. Anderson finished with a game-high 28 and Potts had 27. The Knights shot 50 percent from the field and went 9-for-19 behind the 3-point line.
Good shooting is nothing new for the Knights. They are the only team in the nation to lead their conference this season in field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage in conference play.
Meanwhile, Wagner was just 4-for-24 from behind the 3-point line. Sophomore Corey Henson led the Seahawks with 24 points.
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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
