Fairleigh Dickinson

What began as an abomination ended as a defining victory for the Morgan State men's basketball team last night. After trailing by as many as 18 points early and by 12 midway through the second half, the Bears rallied to take a late lead, then needed two free throws by Chris Grant with nine seconds left to pull out a 76-75 win over Fairleigh Dickinson before 1,456 in their home opener at Hill Field House. "This was a big win for the program, a big win for this group of kids," said Morgan coach Butch Beard, whose Bears (1-1)

After watching a string of final-minute failures this season, UMBC coach Tom Sullivan was beginning to wonder if his young squad had the mettle to pull out a close game. He got the answer yesterday, as the Retrievers scored the final seven points to rally past Fairleigh Dickinson, 63-57, before 1,942 at RAC Arena. Kareem Washington scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half for UMBC, which trailed for the first 35 minutes but held Fairleigh Dickinson to one field goal over the final 10 minutes.

The Fairleigh Dickinson curse continued to haunt the UMBC men's soccer team yesterday. For the third straight season, the defensive-minded Knights knocked the Retrievers out of the Northeast Conference tournament, this time in a semifinal by taking a penalty kick shootout, 3-2, after 110 minutes of scoreless play in Catonsville. Third-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson advanced to tomorrow's noon title game against top-seed Long Island University, which beat Robert Morris, 3-0, with Oskar Tilly scoring all the goals.

The way UMBC men's basketball coach Tom Sullivan sees it, if no one player or two is going to step up on a regular basis, he'll give everyone a chance. Last night, it was junior guard Justin Wilson's turn to take the lead role, with a strong supportive cast enabling the Retrievers to handle visiting Fairleigh Dickinson, 81-70, in front of 1,413 at RAC Arena. The Retrievers got a game-high 18 points and six steals from Wilson; 14 points from Will McClurkin and 10 each from Andrew Feeley and Malik Wallace in a favorable reponse after Saturday's heartbreaking 78-73 double-overtime loss to Monmouth.

When the season began, Mount St. Mary's and UMBC were expected to be the two best teams in the Northeast Conference. They're bound to play like it one of these days. That hope feeds optimism heading into the NEC tournament, which begins today in Trenton, N.J. The Retrievers (11-17) play Central Connecticut State (22-5) at 3: 15 p.m. in a rematch of last year's conference semifinal. The Mount (8-19) plays Fairleigh Dickinson (17-10) at 8: 15 p.m. "It's kind of strange that the two teams picked to finish at the top finished seventh and eighth," Mount St. Mary's coach Jim Phelan said.

Just like last season at this time, the UMBC men's basketball team is looking at a potential must-win situation following a 54-52 loss to Fairleigh Dickinson last night at the Retriever Activities Center. But while a Northeast Conference regular-season title was on the line in last year's finale, this time the Retrievers (11-16, 7-10) must beat Monmouth tomorrow -- or hope for a Wagner loss to second-place Quinnipiac -- in order to reach next weekend's NEC tournament in Trenton, N.J.. Fairleigh Dickinson's LaMarque Ward moved past Terence Ward on the right side -- after some debatable footwork -- and hit a bank shot from about 10 feet that decided the game with 1.5 seconds left.

NEW YORK -- In its 80-63 win over Robert Morris yesterday in the Northeast Conference tournament quarterfinals, the Mount St. Mary's men's basketball team put itself on the hook at Wagner's Spiro Center on Staten Island. Led by Gregory Harris, a point guard who seems to save his best for the Colonials (15-12), the previously underachieving Mountaineers (13-14) hit 65 percent of their shots on the way to a 17-point halftime lead and cruised into the semifinals. Tonight at 7, they will face St. Francis, N.Y., which needed a late run to win, 65-58, over last year's NEC tournament champion, Fairleigh Dickinson.

Megan Gardiner scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds to help Mount St. Mary's (15-5, 13-1) defeat Fairleigh Dickinson, 80-63, yesterday in a Northeast Conference game in Emmitsburg.Kia Williams (15 points), Vera Feldbusch (12) and Lauren Menichini (10) also scored in double figures for the Mount.Bucknell 71, Navy 54: Lori Houck had a game-high 21 points, including 12-for-12 from the free-throw line, along with eight rebounds and seven assists as the Bison defeated the Midshipmen (13-7, 5-2)

Gregory Harris scored 14 points and made two free throws with 11 seconds to play to lead Mount St. Mary's to a 63-62 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson last night in a Northeast Conference game in Hackensack, N.J.Tony Hayden added 13 points and Melvin Whitaker 12 as Mount St. Mary's (9-10, 7-6) won its third straight game and handed Fairleigh Dickinson (7-11, 4-7) its fifth straight loss.Trailing 61-60 in the closing seconds, Fairleigh Dickinson had the ball, but Mount junior Robert Balgac tipped a pass into the hands of Harris, who was fouled and sealed the win with his free throws.

COLLEGE PARK -- Missing a potentially game-winning shot in the final seconds of a season-opening loss made for a longer than normal weekend for Maryland junior forward Laron Profit. So Profit was ready when the Terrapins played their home opener against Fairleigh Dickinson last night."Yeah, I had a very bad taste in my mouth about missing that last shot," Profit said of the attempt in Friday's loss to South Carolina. "It stayed with me, and I had to deal with a lot of different things. But like my mom told me, the best medicine was to get back on the court and make sure I gave it my all."