Saint Peter's continues to fight for momentum as MAAC play approaches

At 2-9 with MAAC play approaching, Shaheen Holloway has gone back to drawing board to get Peacocks in rhythm entering conference season. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Ray Floriani (@rfloriani)

TEANECK, NJ -- KC Ndefo drove the lane, ascended toward the basket, attempting a thunderous dunk that hit nothing but the rim.

In many respects, that scenario -- encountered in real time during the first half of Saint Peter's 83-74 loss to Fairleigh Dickinson Wednesday night -- served as a microcosm of how the Peacocks' season, its first under head coach Shaheen Holloway, has gone to date.

"They came out with more energy than us," Holloway assessed after FDU dropped Saint Peter's to 2-9 on the season despite 28 points from Davauhnte Turner in the losing effort. "It's tough, because we had good practices leading up to this. We were ready. They made shots early, and just came out and competed."

Beyond an offense that struggled to get into gear during Wednesday's opening stanza, one which concluded with a 40-25 halftime deficit, Saint Peter's had issues of its own, namely with handling the basketball. Of the Peacocks' 36 possessions over the first 20 minutes, 14 ended in turnovers on a night where 22 miscues were registered as a whole, many of which resulted in FDU getting out in transition for layups or uncontested three-point attempts.

"Turnovers were a big difference," Holloway admitted. "At times, we were just too careless with the ball."

Minus the services of Cameron Jones, who will miss the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL, Holloway had to adjust on the fly just as he has all season, tinkering with the Peacocks' starting lineup and inserting freshman Klay Brown into the opening five alongside Turner and Quinn Taylor. Two other freshmen -- Dallas Watson and Manny Dixon -- also saw significant minutes in the backcourt in what can be best described as a baptism by fire, of sorts, but a necessary evil Wednesday night.

"It's tough to put freshmen in that situation," Holloway conceded. "We lost Cameron's scoring, no doubt, but what really hurt was having us change our rotation."

Although Saint Peter's shot 51 percent from the floor in defeat while also outrebounding FDU, the damage was done by the lack of value for the basketball, a factor that contributed to a 23-point FDU lead late in the second half before the Peacocks -- behind Turner and a resilient defense that made strides as the game drew to a close -- clawed within single digits down the stretch before running out of time at the end of the night.

With one game remaining in the non-conference season -- at home against Hampton on December 29 -- before Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play begins on January 3 against Siena, who will look to end an eight-year losing streak in Jersey City, Holloway sees an opportunity to get back on track, hopefully gaining valuable momentum as the MAAC schedule beckons.

"We've had a tough start, but conference play really matters," he said. "Truthfully, every game matters, but to us, competing in the conference is a priority."

"We have work to do and a few things to correct," he added, not getting into specifics but citing turnover issues as a priority that must be addressed between now and the Hampton game, with a 23 percent turnover rate plaguing Saint Peter's to date this season. To the coach's credit, though, he and his staff has kept the team focused, giving adamant and vehement kudos to his players, who continue to fight even with the hill ahead of them becoming steeper with each setback.

"These guys are battlers," said Holloway. "Getting down early hurt us, but these guys battled back. They've been like that every day in practice and in games. They're battlers."