HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team nearly overcame a 22-point halftime deficit but came up short in an 83-76 loss to Princeton at the Rothman Center on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Knights (3-3) fought valiantly to weather the scorching hot shooting performance of the Tigers (2-3) -- and trailed by three points in the final minute -- but ultimately could not overtake the defending Ivy League Champions, who shot 66 percent from the field in the game.
 
After a cold-shooting first half, which saw the Knights convert 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) overall and miss all nine of their three-point attempts, the home team responded with a 58.8 percent (20-of-34) effort in the second stanza.
 
Freshman guard Jahlil Jenkins finished with 16 points, five steals three rebounds and three assists to lead the Knights in the loss, while junior guard Darnell Edge hit 6-of-10 shots and matched Jenkins with a team-high 16 points.
 
Junior guard Devin Cannady played all 40 minutes and topped the Tigers' scoresheet with 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while classmate Myles Stephens totaled 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting. The duo helped the Tigers to a 66 percent shooting performance in the game. Stephens filled up the stat sheet with six rebounds, four assists and three steals to go along with his point total.
 
Following the loss, head coach Greg Herenda said, "Princeton played Princeton basketball in the first half and we did not have any answers. They played like juniors and seniors and we played like we started three freshmen and we did. I've been watching Cannady on tape and he has been playing just like that – he is really, really good and all of their players just fed off of him."
 
Cannady led the Tigers out of the gate and connected on all five of his three-point tries en route to first-half high 15 points.
 
The Knights trailed 10-4 at the first media timeout and the Tigers opened their first double-digit lead, 16-6, with 14:35 to go in the opening half. Over that span, the Tigers connected on 4-of-5 from downtown and 6-of-8 overall, while the Knights scuffled to a 1-for-7 start from the field.
 
By the second media timeout of the half, the Tigers led 23-9. FDU sophomore forward Kaleb Bishop snapped a stretch of four scoreless minutes by the Knights with a textbook, post-up turnaround, which resulted in an old-fashioned, three-point play.
 
The on-point shooting continued for the Tigers and they carried a 49-27 cushion into the locker room. As a team, the Tigers connected on 7-of-10 from distance, 18-of-28 (64.3 percent) overall and limited the Knights to 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) from the field in the first 20 minutes.
 
Jenkins paced the Knights with six points and two steals at the break, while Bishop added five points and two rebounds.
 
The Knights showed some urgency out of the break with a quick 8-2 spurt, however, the Tigers settled in and maintained a lead between 18-22 points for most of the stanza. With just under six minutes to go, the Knights began their comeback and trailed 75-62 after a corner three-pointer by Jenkins.
 
For the first time since the early going, the Burgundy & Blue pulled to within single-digits after excellent ball movement led to a corner three by Edge and they trailed 77-69 with 2:07 to play. Edge's bucket was part of an 11-0 run by the Knights, which made it a four-point game, 77-73, with 31 seconds to go.
 
Defensive pressured served as the catalyst for the home team, who pressed the Tigers' backcourt and forced four miscues over the course of that run. Despite the Knights' momentum, the Tigers were able to close out the game by connecting on all six of their free throws in the final 30 seconds, including four by senior forward Mike LeBlanc, which helped seal the victory.
 
On his team's overall performance, Herenda added, "Anyone that follows us knows that we never stop playing and competing -- and our comeback was ferocious -- but you cannot dig that big of a hole and expect to come back and win. I give our players a ton of credit for the second half but we have to own the first half as well."
 
Both teams took care of business at the free throw line as the Knights converted 14-of-15 (93.3 percent) and the Tigers knocked down 12-of-15 (80 percent). The Knights out-rebounded the Tigers 25-20 in the contest and 9-2 on the offensive glass. The team had previously been 3-0 this season in games where they out-rebounded their opponent.
 
After the 0-for-9 start from behind the arc, the Knights rebounded to connect on 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) in the second half.
 
The Knights will look to move back over the .500 mark when they return to action next Wednesday, November 29 against Saint Peter's. The game, which tips off at 7:00 p.m. in Jersey City, marks the first of seven straight road games for the Knights to close out 2017.