NEWARK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team dropped its season opener to No. 23 Seton Hall 90-68 at the Prudential Center on Friday night.
 
The Knights (0-1) featured three players in double figures led by juniors Darnell Edge and Mike Holloway Jr., who tallied 13 points apiece. In his collegiate debut, freshman forward Noah Morgan chipped in 10 points and connected on 2-of-3 from behind the arc.
 
The Pirates (1-0) used their size advantage to win the points-in-the-paint battle 46-24. Preseason All-American Angel Delgado recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds on 4-of-8 shooting, while fellow All-BIG EAST preseason honoree Desi Rodriguez totaled a game-high 17 points in the victory.

"We started the game the way we wanted to but we just could not sustain our effort throughout," said Greg Herenda following the loss. "Seton Hall is a top 25 team for a reason but we just gave them far too many points off of our turnovers and on the offensive glass."

"I am very excited about the potential of our team -- we played very well in stretches and competed extremely hard. Our freshmen did not play like freshmen and Mike and Darnell played well."

Holloway opened the season by banking in a 3-pointer from the left wing as the Knights jumped out to a 7-2 lead. At the first media timeout, the Knights held a 12-5 edge on the scoreboard thanks to a 5-for-7 start from the field and five points apiece by Holloway and sophomore forward Kaleb Bishop.
 
A cold stretch for Knights ended when sophomore guard Pat McNamara – on his first shot attempt as a Knight—splashed a 3-pointer to give his team a one-point edge. The Knights last lead of the night, 17-16, came after a swift driving layup by freshman Jahlil Jenkins with 10:55 to go in the opening half. Jenkins filled up the box score with four points, eight assists and four rebounds in his debut.
 
The Pirates answered Jenkins' bucket with a 17-2 run highlighted by a pair of corner 3-pointers from Rodriguez. Freshman Noah Morgan ended the flurry by burying his first collegiate shot – a corner 3-pointer, which made it a 31-20 game.
 
The cushion stretched to 19 at the break, 47-28, with Rodriguez and Myles Powell leading the way for the Pirates with 13 and 10 points, respectively.  The nationally-ranked Pirates shot 44.4 percent from the field in the first half, while the Knights posted a 39.3 percent clip.
 
In the first 20 minutes, 12 turnovers by the Knights resulted in 16 points for the home team. The Pirates also took 15 shots from the line, converting 10 compared to the Knights, who were 2-for-3 from the charity stripe. After the miscues in the first half, the Knights limited it to just five turnovers in the second stanza. The Pirates committed 14 turnovers in the contest, while each team grabbed six steals.
 
The Knights opened the second half with a defensive stand and Jenkins hit Darnell Edge with a great outlet pass, which ended with an old-fashioned three-point play.
 
Despite the quick burst out of the break by the Knights, Seton Hall maintained a safe distance and built their largest lead of the contest, 75-45, with a 12-2 run, which spanned 3:17. Over that stretch, the home team connected on 5-of-6 shots and freshman Myles Cale tallied five points. Cale finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists in his first game with the Pirates.
 
Another corner three by Noah – this one off of an inbound pass – cut the deficit down to 23, 75-52, but the Knights would only get it down to 20 before the final whistle. After trailing by 19 at the break, the Knights held their own in the second half and were edged by three, 43-40.
 
McNamara finished with six points connecting on both of his 3-pointers and Bishop scored nine with three boards. With McNamara and Morgan combining to make 4-of-5 from distance, the Knights outshot the Pirates by one in the 3-point category 10-of-24 (41.7%) compared to the home team's 9-of-24 (37.5%) performance.

Herenda added, "Now we have to get some sleep and head to "Happy Valley" tomorrow. It does not get easier from here -- Penn State is a very talented Big Ten team but we'll be ready."
 
The Knights are back in action on Sunday when they travel to University Park, Pa. to take on Penn State. Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m. at the Bryce Jordan Center.