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HACKENSACK, N.J. - It has been a decade since the FDU men's basketball team last played in the Northeast Conference Tournament Championship Game, but the wait is over.  The second seeded Knights (17-14, 11-7 NEC) will play the top seeded Wagner Seahawks (22-9, 13-5 NEC) for the NEC Tournament title and the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday night.
 
Game Details
Tuesday, March 8 | 7 PM | Spiro Sports Center | Staten Island, N.Y.
TV: ESPN2 - Karl Ravech (PxP) & Jim Calhoun (Color)
Radio: Westwood One (Sirius/XM Channel 84 or Online) - Gary Cohen (PxP) & Mo Cassara (Color)
FDU Audio: FDUKnights.com – Sitesh Shah (PxP)
Twitter: @FDUKnights
 
TICKETS: FDU Alumni, Fans and Students can purchase tickets to the game by contacting Sean Morrison at 201-692-9552.  Tickets are available on a first come, first served basis beginning Monday, March 7 at 9 a.m.  Fans that purchase tickets will also have the opportunity to travel to the game via bus.  The "Fan Busses" will depart from the Rothman Center on the FDU Campus on Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 and 5 p.m.  Those interested in taking the fan bus can receive additional information when purchasing tickets.
 
The game will be played on Tuesday, March 8 at the Spiro Sports Center on Wagner's campus in Staten Island, New York.  The Knights and Seahawks have a long history as New York City Metropolitan Area and conference rivals and this will be the second time that the programs have met with a bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line, the last was in March 2005 with FDU winning and earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Series History:  This is the 101st all-time meeting between these programs with the series evenly split, 50-50.  These teams have split a pair of meetings this season with the road team winning each time.  The Knights won 82-79 in overtime at the Spiro Sports Center on February 4 and the Seahawks won 94-74 at Stratis Arena on February 18.  Prior to FDU's victory on February 4, the Knights had lost nine straight games against the Seahawks.  The victory was also FDU's first at the Spiro Center since February 5, 2009.  The last two meetings between these teams at the Spiro Center have gone to overtime with Wagner winning 83-79 (OT) on February14, 2015 and FDU winning 82-79 (OT) earlier this season.
 
The One Year Turn Around:  The FDU men's basketball team was picked ninth in this season's NEC preseason poll.  The spot was largely the result of the team's poor finish to the 2014-15 season as the Knights stumbled in conference and finished with an 8-21 record and a 3-15 mark in the NEC.  However, the predictions were wrong.  The young, but talented Knights captured the #2 seed in the NEC Tournament thanks to a high scoring offense that outpaced its NEC peers in field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage.  The Knights improved their conference performance by eight wins and finished with an 11-7 record.  The team improved its overall win total by nine to enter the championship game with a 17-14 mark on the season.
 
The Bigger Picture:  Now in his third season, head coach Greg Herenda has guided the Knights to a 17-14 record this year.  His 35 wins over his first three seasons at FDU represent a 20-win improvement over the three-year period immediately before his arrival.  Between the 2010-11 and 2012-13 seasons the program posted an overall record of 15-74 and a 7-47 mark in NEC play.  Herenda has already won 20 games in NEC action.
 
Last Time in the NEC Championship:  The Knights last appearance in the NEC Championship game came a decade ago at the end of the 2005-06 season.  FDU fell in a heartbreaker to Monmouth, 49-48.  The 2006 NEC Tournament was also the last time - prior to this season - that the Knights won a postseason game, winning quarterfinal and semifinal matchups.  The Knights were NEC Regular Season Champions that year and earned a bid to the NIT.
 
Last Time Winning the NEC Championship:  The Knights last NEC Tournament Championship came in March 2005.  A 58-52 victory over Wagner in the championship punched FDU's ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history.  That game was played at Stratis Arena inside the Rothman Center on FDU's campus.
 
FDU Third Youngest Team in the Nation:  The 2015-16 FDU roster includes 13 student-athletes of that group 85% (11 players) are either freshman or sophomores, which ties the Knights for the third youngest team in the nation this season.  Only Georgia Southern at 92% and Liberty at 91% are younger.  FDU is tied with the Ohio State Buckeyes at 85%.  A pair of redshirt juniors rank as the oldest players on a roster that does not feature a senior in terms of athletic eligibility.