HACKENSACK, N.J.  – The first-place Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team (5-9, 3-0 NEC) will look to remain unbeaten in NEC action when they host Bryant University (4-11, 1-2 NEC) on Saturday afternoon at Stratis Arena inside the Rothman Center.
 
These teams met twice last season with each team coming away with a win on the opposition's home floor. The first matchup resulted in an 85-80 win for Bryant in Hackensack on January 4 before the Knights returned the favor with a 91-77 victory in Smithfield, R.I. In FDU's win, Mike Holloway led the Knights with 20 points and 6 rebounds.
 
Notes: FDU Notes – Bryant Notes

FDU Men's Basketball Report 1/4
Anderson Named NEC Player of the Week 
Coach Herenda's Postgame Conference after win at Wagner 1/5
 
Game Information:
Fairleigh Dickinson University (5-9, 3-0 NEC) vs. Bryant University (4-11, 1-2 NEC)
Where: Stratis Arena -- Hackensack, N.J.
When: Saturday, January 7 – 3:00 p.m.
Series History: Bryant leads the all-time series 7-6
First Meeting:   Jan. 17, 2009 (Bryant W, 56-43)
Last Meeting:  Feb. 11, 2016 – (FDU W, 91-77) In the win, the Knights featured five players scoring in double figures. Mike Holloway led the Knights with 20 points and six rebounds. As a team, the Knights shot 54.7% (35-of-64) from the field and hit 75% (15-of-20) at the free throw line. FDU committed just 11 turnovers, while forcing 18 and held a 34-32 advantage on the boards.

Broadcast Information:
Watch: NECFrontRow - Sitesh Shah (Play-by-Play)
Stats: Live Stats

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Bryant Bulldogs:
Bryant enters Saturday's contest fresh off of a one-point win over Mount St. Mary's on Thursday night in Smithfield, R.I. The Bulldogs pulled out a 72-71 victory over the Mount for their first conference win of the season. 

Junior guard/forward Bosko Kostur netted a career-high 24 points and senior forward Dan Garvin hit a critical free throw to push the Bryant in front, 72-71, with five ticks to go, as Mount St. Mary's missed a last second three, allowing the hosts to hold on for the victory.
  
Kostur went 8-of-13 from the field and hit all six of his free throws to go along with four boards and three assists. The Bulldogs' leading scorer, sophomore Nisre Zouzoua had 15 points.

Like the Knights, the Bulldogs struggled with a difficult non-conference schedule, which saw them post a 3-9 mark. The team's three non-conference victories came over Louisiana-Monroe (64-57), Yale (79-70), and NCAA Division III opponent Salve Regina (88-61). Bryant opened conference play with a pair of road losses in Brooklyn to St. Francis Brooklyn (80-77) and LIU Brooklyn (74-63).

When it comes to protecting the basketball, the Bulldogs have excelled this season. The team is tops in the NEC with 12 turnovers per game, which ranks 66th in the nation. The stellar turnover figure has aided in the Bulldogs' NEC-best 1.16 assist to turnover ratio.

Offensively, the Bulldogs rank third in the NEC at 71.9 points per game and are ninth in scoring defense, allowing 79 points per contest. Nisre Zouzoua currently leads the NEC in scoring at 21 points per game. FDU junior guard Darian Anderson is second with 18.9 ppg.

Following Saturday's tilt, Bryant returns home for their next three games, including a non-conference game against Harvard on Monday, January 16.

Head Coach: Tim O'Shea (Boston College '84)
Record at Bryant: 201-258 (.437) – (Ninth Season)

Team Leaders:
Points: Nisre Zouzoua 13.3 ppg
Rebounds: Dan Garvin 6.9 rpg
Assists: Ikenna Ndugba 4.7 apg
 
Last Time Out for the Knights:
Championship Game, FDU prevailed with a thrilling 70-69 victory over Wagner College at Spiro Sports Center on Thursday night.

The Knights held a double-digit lead with under five minutes to go but a four-plus minute scoreless drought allowed Wagner to claw to within one in the final minute. However, for the third straight game, the Knights' defense came up clutch and turned away two game-winning chances by the Seahawks in the waning seconds to secure the victory.

Stephan Jiggetts led the way for the Knights with 17 points and seven assists, while Mike Holloway finished with 16 points and a team-high six boards. The Knights also received a huge contribution from Ghassan Nehme, who knocked down 4-of-5 from 3-point range, and finished with 12 points.

After Wagner shot 51.6 percent from the field in the first half, the Knights turned up the defense and limited their opposition to just 28 percent in the second stanza on seven made baskets.

Herenda's Take: 
"Road conference wins do not come easy and tonight was a testament to that. Give our players all of the credit -- they guarded their hearts out in the second half right up until that buzzer went off."

"It was a total team effort tonight but our stabilizing force throughout the game was Steph (Jiggetts). He played a great great floor game. On top of that, Mike Holloway, Ghassan -- you can go on and on. But Earl's defense on Carey in the last possession of the game says so much about his game and maturity."

"I love this group because they have a great inner belief in each other and winning."

News and Notes: 
Streak Talk: Dating back to last season's tremendous, late-season run, the Knights have now won eight consecutive NEC contests. The streak is the team's longest since they won 11 straight conference games back in the 2005-06 season.  Including last season's NEC Championship Game, the Knights are 9-2 on the road in conference over their last 11 outings. With the win at Wagner, the Knights became the first team since 2011 (LIU Brooklyn) to win three straight games at Spiro Sports Center.

3-0 Start: For the first time since the 1992-93 season, the Knights are 3-0 to begin NEC play. The team began that '92-93 conference slate with six consecutive conference victories.

Turning Them Over: The Knights have forced 19, 16 and 15 turnovers over the last three games, respectively. The defensive pressure has allowed the Knights to hold their NEC foes to a shade over one-point per possession (1.003). 

Charitable Donations: All season long the Knights have thrived at the free throw line. The team has posted a 75 percent clip overall, including an 88 percent effort in NEC play. Both figures are tops in the conference.

Player of the Week: Darian Anderson earned NEC Player of the Week honors on Monday after leading the Knights to a 2-0 start in conference play. Anderson averaged 22 ppg, 3.5 apg, 3.5 rpg over the two-game stretch.

Be My Guest: 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 ESPN college basketball analyst Jeff Goodman.

Next up:
The Knights are on the road for their next two games with trips to Mount St. Mary's on Thursday, January 12 and Central Connecticut State on Saturday, January 14.