Corey Sanders Leads Rutgers to Win Over FDU

Corey Sanders (Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports)

The Rutgers men’s basketball team was in need of an early Christmas present. Coming off a two-game skid in which they had lost by a combined 40 points, the Scarlet Knights had to rebound against in-state foe Farleigh Dickinson.

Although it was not pretty, the Scarlet Knights were able to pull out a 72-64 victory. It moved the Knights to 5-7 on the season, while dropping the Hawks to 4-7.

Neither team played a particularly efficient game, but Rutgers was able to make enough plays down the stretch to come away with a victory. The Knights committed 17 turnovers and were outscored by 22 points in the paint.

But when a team such as Rutgers has a game-changing guard like freshman Corey Sanders, it can make up for weaknesses at other areas of the court.

That was the case last night.

Sanders posted a career-high 21 points and shot 4-8 from long range in the contest. Near the end of the first half with the Knights down 27-20, Sanders went on a 7-0 run by himself to even the score at 27. It was the boost the Knights needed to edge the Hawks once the second half began.

With two of its top frontcourt players on the sidelines, Rutgers needed others to step up and make contributions last night. Freshman forward Jonathan Laurent came up big for the Knights with 12 points and six rebounds, and senior center Greg Lewis posted a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds.

One of the keys to this game was free throws – the Knights got to the line early and often against FDU.

Rutgers shot 23-31 from the line, while the Hawks went only 7-20. It was one of the deciding factors in the Knights’ eight-point victory.

With only one contest remaining before conference play, Rutgers will need to find ways to continuously improve in order to make an impact in the Big Ten conference.

But for now, the Knights can go into the Christmas break with a victory, and get five days of rest until their next game.