Knights win close battle with Fisk

November 26th, 2018

By: Samantha Lowder, Sports Information

Laurinburg, NC - The St. Andrews University men's basketball team topped NAIA non-conference Fisk University on Monday evening, 85-79.

The non-conference game began at a quick pace with St. Andrews building off of five made three-pointers within the first 5 minutes of the game. The Knights were able to gain an 11-point lead early in the first half, but the lead was closed in by the Bulldogs of Fisk University. The first half ended in a close score of 45-44 after a last second three-pointer by Isaac Clay (SO/Newport News, VA).

The second half of the game followed the same tempo of the first half with the lead swapping teams countless times. The score was tied a total of nine times throughout the game, as each team shot in the .400's (SAU .484, Fisk .417). The game was tied with 1:29 minutes left of play, when the Knights went on a run of 6 points with 4 of them being from senior guard Warren Vinson (SR/Rock Hill, SC) at the free throw line. Vinson is shooting 99% from the free throw line and ranked 1st in the NAIA division in free throw percentage.

The Knights were led by Vinson tallying 21 points, shooting 50% in field goals and collecting 2 three's with a team-leading 9 rebounds. Vinson was followed by Jamaan Bailey (FR/Southern Pines, NC) as he recorded 20 points, and shot for 50 percent from behind the arc netting 5 of 10 attempts. Also performing well was point guard Isaac Clay collecting 14 points along with three assists and five rebounds. Defensively, Jozef Vanderhorst (JR/Fayetteville, NC) led the Knights with three strong blocks against the Bulldogs while also collecting 9 points.

St. Andrews improves to 3-4 overall while Fisk University falls to 1-7 overall.

The Knights will next be in action on Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm against conference foe, Columbia International.