FDU’s “life-changing” win sparked by Sean Moore’s big shot
Columbus, Ohio – That was the moment the Fairleigh Dickinson players knew they were about to make history.
The author of that moment was Sean Moore, a 6-foot-4 diminutive forward who grew up in Columbus, Ohio, just a few miles from Nationwide Arena, as he helped make history Friday night in the game of his life.
the moment?
Moore, off the top of the corkscrew, hit a 3-point shot that gave 16th seed FDU a five-point lead over No. 1 seed Purdue with 1:03 left in the game.
He. She The arrow that fell was the Boilermakers.
After the ball left Moore’s hands, he stood like a statue for what seemed like minutes, his right hand frozen in the air as his teammates moved around him.
In the stands, his mother, Shanica Tyler, said to herself (and anyone else who would listen), “This is my son!”
“I was so dumbfounded, so amazed… I was speechless,” Tyler told The Post on Saturday. “We said a prayer before the game together and I said, ‘Son, you better step on that floor without fear. I told him to “own the court, because the worst thing that can happen is you go home.”
“No one really saw it coming, but we didn’t doubt it for one minute.”
Moore’s second lookalike Chavis Wilson, the father of Moore’s 14-year-old brother, had no doubts as he watched the ball leave his hands on its way to the biggest shot in FDU history.
“When he hit that shot, I started having flashbacks to all the drills and shots, 2,000 shots a day in the summer, all the games, all the championships, all the heartache,” Wilson told The Post on Saturday. “I was just proud that he hit the big ball. He used to get away from the big shot. I told him before the game this is your city.
Even the coach [Tobin] Anderson’s wife [Jodi]Before they got on the buses, they said to him, “Shawn, you always play well in front of your family. We want you to do it again.”
“When he fired that shot, I knew it was going in. It was meant to be.”
Moore, on Saturday, He described what he and FDU did on Friday as “life changing”.
“This whole game has changed everyone on our team — the staff, the students, everyone who goes to Fairleigh Dickinson,” he said. “Everything is different now.”
Everything is different because of that shot, that moment.
“I missed that shot twice in the second half, so I’m not going to let that stop me from making that shot,” Moore told The Post. “I felt like she was going to come in and when she came in… I just had to take it in. It was just the momentum and the energy. I just felt like I had to let the energy go as I was feeling.”
Wilson said he communicates with Moore during the game by giving him certain looks.
“Like two shots before that, he hesitated a bit,” Wilson said. “When they were down by five points late in the game, I looked at him and gave him a wink to tell him, ‘You have to do what you want now.’ He took it to the next level.”
Fifth-year FDU President Demeter Roberts called Moore’s shot a “game-changer,” adding: “That was a dagger right there. I’m so proud of him. He played his ass. Because of him, we can move on “.”
With 13 seconds left in the game and FDU holding on to a three-point lead, it was Moore who blocked Purdue’s Braden Smith shot to help seal the victory.
Moore entered the game averaging 6.7 points per game and scored just eight goals in the previous 34 games this season. However, he led the Knights with 19 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots in the biggest game of his career.
He did this in his hometown, in front of his mother, father and his people.
“You can’t make it up,” Tyler said. “Honestly, when they say ‘A Cinderella Story,’ I feel like it’s a holy thing from God. I remember when he was three years old and he said, ‘Mom, I just want to be a basketball player. I want to be tall.'”
“I always said, ‘Pray for that,’ because I’m short and his dad is short, so the fact that he’s him [6-4]We feel it was a blessing from God to have his life.”
FDU’s three keys to victory
A look at what 16th-ranked FDU (21-15) must do to upset ninth-seed Florida Atlantic (32-3) on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.
Stay intense
FDU played a close to perfect game Friday night against No. 1 Purdue, because the guys knew it was going to take. Sunday’s challenge will be to maintain the same elite intensity by pulling off the biggest win in school history.
“It’s hard to get over what we did last night,” said FDU guard Grant Singleton. “But we’re just trying to keep our balance, stay humble about the situation. We’ve got more things to do. We want to keep dancing.”
Out of the box
FAU does not have a massive height advantage over FDU This is what Bordeaux didbut its players are just as aggressive on the glass as FDU.
FAU tallied 18 offensive rebounds in its win over Memphis on Friday night which is plus six for the season by rebounding margin (FDU plus 0.5).
Perimeter defense
FDU focused so much of their defensive energy collapsing on Purdue’s 7-foot-4 Zack Eddy that they let Purdue’s outside shooters fire.
The Boilermakers won 5 of 26 from a long distance and were unable to hurt FDU on the perimeter. FAU makes approximately 10 three-pointers per game and shoots 37 percent from distance. Holds against opponents at 31 percent.
