HACKENSACK, N.J. – The defending Northeast Conference Champion Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team opened conference play with a win over Saint Francis U on Thursday night and will look to make it two straight on Saturday afternoon when Robert Morris (5-9, 1-0 NEC) comes to town.
 
Notes: FDU Notes – RMU Notes
FDU Men's Basketball Report 12/28
 
Note: Children 12 and under can receive free general admission tickets for Thursday's game. An adult accompanying a child will receive a discounted $5 General Admission ticket.

Game Information:
Fairleigh Dickinson University (3-9, 1-0 NEC) vs. Robert Morris University (5-9, 1-0 NEC)
Where: Stratis Arena inside the Rothman Center – Hackensack, N.J.
When: Saturday, December 31 – 3:00 p.m.
Series History: RMU leads the all-time series 43-30
First Meeting:   Jan. 5, 1980 (FDU W, 69-63)
Last Meeting:  Feb. 13, 2016 – FDU fell to Robert Morris by a score of 72-70 in the second of two meetings last season. Center. Rodney Pryor led the Colonials with 27 points and 14 rebounds. In the first meeting, the Colonials defended their home court with a 64-58 win.

Broadcast Information:
Watch: NECFrontRow.com
Stats: Live Stats

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Robert Morris Colonials:
Robert Morris came away with a 78-67 victory at Sacred Heart in their NEC opener on Thursday night.

The Colonials took control in the second half courtesy of a 14-3 run and allowed RMU to erase a seven-point deficit from earlier in the stanza.

Despite trailing by one at the half, the Colonials overtook the Pioneers in the second half to earn in the win.
 
Kavon Stewart contributed 14 points and four steals, while Aaron Tate tallied 10 points, six boards and a steal. Off the bench, freshman guard Dachon Burke scored 10 points as the RMU reserves outscored the Sacred Heart bench, 30-12.
 
The Colonials nabbed a season-high 16 steals in the win.
 
The team has been led by the play of its defense all season, which ranks second in the NEC in defense at 69 points allowed per game.
 
Additionally, the Colonial defense has wreaked havoc on opposing offenses, forcing 16.8 turnovers per contest, which is 20^th best in the nation. They have also limited the opposition's 3-point attack to just 30 percent on the campaign, which is tops in the NEC and 41^st in the country.
 
Head Coach: Rob Krimmel (Pennsylvania '03)
Record at Robert Morris: 125-96 (Seventh season)

Team Leaders:
Points: Isaiah Still 15.7 ppg
Rebounds: Aaron Tate 7.1 rpg
Assists: Kavon Stewart 3.6 apg
 
Last Time Out for the Knights:
The defending Northeast Conference champions opened conference play with a comfortable 77-65 victory over Saint Francis University at Stratis Arena on Thursday night.
 
The Knights exhibited a spirited defensive effort, forcing 16 turnovers and limiting the conference's top scoring team to just 65 points.  Junior swingman Earl Potts Jr. was at the forefront with three steals to go along with seven points and a game-high nine rebounds.
 
Darian Anderson, who was honored prior to the game for eclipsing the 1,000-career point mark, led all scorers with 18 points. Sophomore forward Mike Holloway was an efficient 8-of-10 from the field and scored 16 points in his 28 minutes of action.
 
The Knights held the Red Flash (3-9, 0-1 NEC), who entered the game ranked 24th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage, to 33.3 percent from behind the arc and 38.7 overall.
 
Sophomore guard Ghassan Nehme returned to the lineup for the second time this season after missing most of the campaign due to injury. Nehme started for the Knights and tallied six points and five rebounds in the win.


Herenda's Take: 
"It feels good to play defense, to rebound and to win again -- it's been awhile which make it feel that much better." 
 
"Saint Francis is a very young and talented team but once we got our sea legs under us we played some not perfect but good basketball."
 
"That was the first time that our starting five has been together the entire year. We are still very much a work in progress but 20 assists and a 19-point run are some great signs. We still need to improve -- and we will."


News and Notes: 
Dishing it Out: In the Knights victory over Saint Francis U on Thursday night, the team dished out a season-high 20 assists. The assist output was the highest total by the team since 1/9/16 against CCSU.
 
Steal the Win: The Knights netted a season-high 10 steals in Thursday night's win. Tonight, they face a Colonial team that ranks 20th in the nation with 16.8 turnovers forced per contest.
 
"O" vs. "D": Tonight's contest pits the NEC's second-ranked offense (FDU) against the conference's second-ranked defense (RMU).
 
NEC Openers: The Knights remained a perfect 4-0 under Greg Herenda in conference opening games and have won their last five conference openers overall.
 
Capture the Colonials: Greg Herenda is looking for his first win over Robert Morris since his arrival in Hackensack for the 2013-14 season. Herenda is 0-7 against the Colonials and 21-25 against the rest of the NEC.
 
Unkind Non-Conference: The Knights played one of the most difficult non-conference slates in the nation this season. Through the 11-game stretch the Knights' opponents totaled a combined record of 61-37 (.622). The team played nine of those 11 contests away from home, including trips to perennial powerhouses Ohio State and No. 23 Cincinnati. According to KenPom.com, the Knights faced the 10th toughest defensive schedule in the country over that 11-game start.

Herenda Show: Tune in every Sunday to "The Greg Herenda Show" on WFDU and iHeartRadio. All broadcasts can be found at fduknights.com/herendashow. This week's show features longtime New York Yankees radio announcer John Sterling.

Next up:
The Knights head to Wagner for a rematch of last season's NEC Championship Game on Tuesday, January 4. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. in Staten Island, N.Y. and the game will be televised on CBSSN.