With the win, the Devils improved to 2-0 on the season.
Southwestern jumped out to a 19-15 lead with 13:22 left in the first half before the Devils went on an 8-0 run to go ahead 23-19 with 9:50 remaining. Schmitt had four points in the run.
The Pirates tied the game at 23-23 before FDU went on an 18-4 run to take the lead 41-27 with 2:43 left in the half. Senior guards Brian Dillon (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) and Cody Chalmers (Middletown, NJ/Middletown North) each had five points during the spurt. Southwestern got to within 41-34 but Dillon hit a three with 0:04 left in the half to send the Devils into the locker room with a 44-34 lead.
FDU took its largest lead of the game, 51-38, on a layup by senior center Brian Rimol (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) with 3:43 gone by in the second half. The Pirates immediately responded with on an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 53-49 with 11:53 left but sophomore forward Andrew Biancosino (Edison, NJ/JP Stevens) made two huge three pointers on back-to-back possessions and after a Pirate basket and turnover, sophomore center Milton LaCroix (Atlanta, GA/Centennial) converted a fast break layup to push the lead back to 10, 61-51, with 10:28 remaining in the game.
Southwestern would get as close as four points on four different occasions, the last of which came off a jumper by junior forward Matt Caplan (Houston, TX/Univ. of Kansas) to make the score 73-69 with 2:04 left to play. However, Emslie and Schmitt would carry the Devils to victory, combining to score FDU’s last 11 points to secure the win.
Rimol finished the game with 12 points and six rebounds while Dillon had 10 points, six assists and four rebounds. Chalmers came off the bench to chip in eight points.
Caplan had a game-high 26 points for Southwestern while senior center Casey Gorder (San Antonio, TX/Texas Military Institute) added 15 points.
The Devils return to action Saturday, November 25, when they take on Trinity at 7 pm local time. You can watch the live play-by-play at http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/MBasketball/05livestats/xlive.htm .