HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team rolled to a 111-49 victory over FDU-Florham in the 2017-18 home opener at the Rothman Center on Wednesday night.
 
The Knights featured seven scorers in double figures led by juniors Darnell Edge and Mike Holloway Jr. who tallied 17 points apiece. Twelve different Knights scored at least two points in the victory and all 13 active players saw game action.
 
The 62-point margin of victory is the most in program history, while the 111 points scored by the Knights (1-2) are tied for fifth most in school history.
 
Freshman forward Noah Morgan made his first collegiate start and connected on his first five shots, filling up the stat sheet with 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
 
The aforementioned Holloway, added eight rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals to his ledger, while freshman point guard Jahlil Jenkins scored 11 points with five assists, four rebounds and three steals.
 
In his return to the lineup after missing the first two games with an injury, the team's senior leader Darian Anderson did not miss a beat. The senior guard knocked down his first three shots from downtown and finished with 12 points in 13 minutes of action.
 
"Tonight, we did exactly what we had to – we played really hard and were very efficient for the entire 40 minutes," head coach Greg Herenda said following the victory. "The stat that I relish the most is the 27 assists – we shared the ball the entire night and finished well in the paint and made 10 threes as well."
 
The 27 assists totaled by the Knights are the most in a game by the team since they dished out 28 helpers in a 122-115 overtime loss to LIU Brooklyn back on February 23, 2002.
 
The Knights opened up a double-digit lead in the first five minutes by connecting on nine of their first ten shots for a 24-8 cushion. Morgan was responsible for the Knights first seven points of the game, including the team's first bucket of the night – a 3-pointer off of an assist by Edge.
 
With run-outs and fastbreak dunks, the Knights entertained the home crowd as the lead ballooned to 36-12 -- via a 14-of-15 (93.3%) shooting start -- midway through the stanza.
 
Anderson was locked in from the moment he checked in to the game as he knocked down his first three shots en route to 12 first-half tallies. The Knights led by 40 points, 63-23, at the break, shooting 61.5 percent overall and 60 percent (9-of-15) from behind the arc.
 
Defensively, the Knights forced 11 turnovers in the first stanza and held the Devils to 28.1 percent (9-of-32) from the field. The Devils matched their first-half performance with an equal 9-of-32 shooting clip in the second half finishing with 26 second-half points.

"Obviously, we were much bigger and deeper than Florham and just wore them down," Herenda added. "Give their kids and coaches credit, they played very hard and physical tonight but we just played our best basketball of this early season tonight."
 
Sophomore forward Kaleb Bishop opened the second-half scoring by coasting to the rim for a dunk as the Knights picked up right where they left off, converting five of their first six shots.
 
The Knights remained in control for the duration with walk-on Brian Fabre notching his first collegiate basket and the final bucket of the night with 17 seconds to go.

For FDU-Florham, senior Steve Herdman was the lone scorer to reach double figures, finishing with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while junior forward Darren Davy finished with seven points and seven boards in the loss.
 
"We still have a lot of work to do but I love the upside of this team. They have a great spirit and work ethic but we need to do it on every possession and eventually we will."
 
FDU returns to action this Saturday, November 18 when they welcome another New Jersey NCAA Division III program in Kean University. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. at the Rothman Center.