NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team overcame a slow start to breeze past Central Connecticut State, 59-47 at Detrick Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Knights (7-10, 5-1 NEC) limited the Blue Devils (2-15, 0-6 NEC) to just 19 points in the second half, their fewest allowed this season. The 47 points allowed by the Knights is the lowest since February 2, 2012, when they defeated St. Francis Brooklyn 45-44, while the 19 points allowed in the half are the fewest since Bryant scored 18 points against FDU on February 20, 2014.
 
Darnell Edge and Stephan Jiggetts were the lone Knights to score in double figures with 12 points each as the team extended its win streak to five over CCSU. Edge also corralled a career-high seven rebounds, which matched teammate Mike Holloway for the game-high.
 
After a cold-shooting first half, the Knights recovered to post a 48 percent second-half shooting performance, including 6-of-11 (54.5%) from downtown.
 
Following the win, head coach Greg Herenda said, "That was an old-school Al LoBalbo kind of win. After Thursday, all we talked about was improving our defense and toughness and I think we did just that. Donyell has Central playing very hard but today we showed our depth."
 
On his team's play in the latter stanza, "In the second half we moved the ball very well against the zone and our pressure sped up the game. Darian and Steph didn't put up huge numbers but they both played great floor games and then Ghassan and Darnell opened things up from behind the line."
 
The Knights are off to their best conference start since the 2004-05 season when they began the NEC slate 7-1.
 
A 3-for-12 start for the Knights allowed the Blue Devils to open a 16-9 lead by the second media timeout.
 
Despite their cold stretch, 5-of-18 (27.8%), the Knights only trailed by a bucket, 17-15, with 7:06 to play in the half. The Knights captured their first lead of the game after a free throw by Jiggetts, 21-20, with 4:39 left.
 
Unfortunately, the lead did not last as the Knights went into a shooting funk and failed to net another bucket until Edge dropped in a putback lay-up in the waning seconds, which sent CCSU into the break with a 28-23 lead.
 
The Knights connected on 8-of-29 (27.6%) overall and just one of their nine attempts from downtown, resulting in their lowest scoring output in a half this season. Edge topped the team with six points and added three rebounds in the opening stanza.
 
On the other side, the Blue Devils knocked down 9-of-19 (47.4%) overall and 3-of-6 from behind the arc. Mustafa Jones and Austin Nehls paced the Blue Devils with nine and eight points, respectively.
 
The Knights turned the tide to start the second half with an 8-2 run and then captured the lead for good after Darian Anderson connected with a trey, 34-32, with 15:04 to go.
 
With their shots consistently falling, the Knights extended their run to 18-4 and opened up a 41-32 lead.
 
With four minutes to go, a 3-pointer by Edge gave the Knights their first double-digit lead of the game, 53-43, and they remained in control until the final horn.
 
A total team rebounding effort aided the Knights to a 35-29 edge on the glass, their second straight game out-rebounding their opponent. Ghassan Nehme added to that performance with a season-high five rebounds to go along with his nine points.
 
The Knights also forced 16 turnovers for the third game in a row. The road win for the Knights was their 10^th in their last 13 conference games away from home.

A pleased Herenda added, "I just love our composure on the road. These kids believe in themselves and that is special."
 
Fairleigh Dickinson returns home for their next contest when they host St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday, January 19 at 7:00 p.m.