NEW YORK, NY - The Hunter College men's basketball team overcame an eight-point first half deficit to defeat FDU-Florham, 65-60 at the Hunter Sportsplex on Monday evening.
Hunter improves to 4-3 in non-conference play with the victory while FDU-Florham slides to 1-5 on the year.
Anthony Uter was unstoppable and led the team with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Jeffrey Daza and Mark Courtien added 18 and 10 points respectively. As a squad, Hunter finished the day shooting 45.7% from field-goal range and was strong at the charity stripe converting 63% of attempted free throws.
The Hawks trailed early in the first half and by as many as 12, however a pair of late three-pointers from Jeffrey Daza trimmed the deficit to just nine points, 42-34. The Devils maintained control of the game in the early goings of the second half before the Hawks went on a 10-0 run across a three minute stretch to move ahead at 51-50 with 10:28 to play as Joseph Salerno completed a three-point play. Control of the game remained shaky as the Hawks saw the Devils erase a six-point lead as the visitors tied the game at 56-all with 4:24 remaining in regulation.
With each side trading points, Uter came up clutch for the Hawks down the stretch, converting a layup before knocking down a pair of free throws with just over a minute to give Hunter a four-point edge. Hunter's defense tightened up and held the Devils scoreless in the last minute of action while Daza connected on another free throw to give the Hawks tonights, 65-60 victory.
Despite a strong first half of shooting, Hunter limited the Devils to just 33.9% from the field all game and 28.6% from 3-point range. Will Green had 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Derek Hall added 14 points to lead the Devils offensively.
Hunter returns to non-conference action this Wednesday, December 7th when they visit William Paterson University. Tip-off is slated for 7:00pm.