NEWARK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team was edged by NJIT, 71-68, at the NJIT Wellness and Events Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Highlanders (6-6) scored 10 of the game's final 13 points and survived Darian Anderson's game-tying three-point attempt to escape with the win.
 
Anderson, who led all scorers with 18 points in the loss, had a game-tying look from 22 feet away but it caromed out as time expired. The Knights led by two with 1:50 to play, however, the Highlanders netted the game's final five points to take the victory.
 
Four Knights scored in double figures including junior guard Darnell Edge with 14 and junior forward Mike Holloway Jr., who had 13 and eight boards.
 
Freshman point guard Jahlil Jenkins scored 10 and dished out seven assists to go along with a 2-for-3 performance from downtown. The West Virginia native totaled two steals including a crucial theft in the final minute, which gave the Knights their first game-tying opportunity.
 
The Knights shot 48.3 percent from the field and 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) from downtown, while the Highlanders finished at 44.8 percent overall and 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) from behind the arc.
 
The home team used a 40-29 advantage on the glass -- including 14 offensive rebounds -- to earn 15 second-chance points and doubled up the Knights at the free throw line where they converted 14-of-19 (73.7 percent) compared to the Knights' 7-of-12 (58.3 percent).
 
Following the loss, head coach Greg Herenda said, "That was a really tough one to swallow but I really like the way we played tonight. We did the things that we were supposed to do but we just didn't do them well enough to win the game. Give NJIT credit late – they made two huge threes but the game was in our hands and we are still learning how to finish games on the road."
 
Freshman forward Noah Morgan came up with the save and an offensive rebound, which led to the Knights' first basket of the game -- a shot-clock beating three-pointer by Edge. The Knights trailed 8-5 at the first media timeout before Anderson drained a three from the top of the key to even the score.
 
Anderson spurred the offense for FDU early on, scoring seven of the team's first 14 points to give his team a two-point edge with just under 12 minutes to play in the opening half.
 
Both offenses struggled to find a rhythm in the stanza and the game remained tight until the first-half horn with each team posting a 37.9 percent field goal clip – en route to a 32-29 lead for NJIT at the break. In addition to the identical field goal percentages, the teams each knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the half with the Highlanders' 8-5 edge in made free throws serving as the difference.
 
Anderson topped the Knights halftime scoresheet with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting, while the Highlanders were led by eight points apiece from freshmen Anthony Tarke and Zach Cooks.
 
The Knights captured their first lead since the early going, 46-45, when Jenkins soared through the lane for a layup with just under 12 to play in regulation.
 
The Knights broke a 61-61 tie when Jenkins delivered an inbound pass to Holloway for a two-handed jam. On the ensuing possession, Jenkins nabbed a rebound and hit Edge with an outlet pass for a layup and a four-point Knights' lead with just under four minutes to go.
 
Over the next minute, the Highlanders responded with four straight points to tie the game at 68-68. An Anderson layup was answered by a three-pointer from Shawndale Jones and the home team led by one with under a minute to go. Jones' long ball proved to be the biggest shot of the game as the Highlanders would not relinquish the lead.
 
Trailing 69-68, with NJIT inbounding, Jenkins jumped into the passing lane and deflected the ball off of a Highlander to give the Knights the ball with 35 seconds to go. After Anderson missed a jumper from the wing, Cooks converted a pair of free throws to give the Highlanders a 71-68 lead with 20.1 remaining.
 
The Knights had two chances to tie. The first came with the shot clock winding down, Jenkins attempted an off-balance three-point try, which was blocked by Cooks. Then with 9.8 to go -- after NJIT missed the front end of the one-and-one – the Knights went the length of the floor but Anderson's three-point attempt from the left wing was off the mark.
 
In the win, four Highlanders scored in double figures led by Lewis and Tarke, who tallied 17 apiece. Junior guard Diandre Wilson finished with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting and matched Holloway with a game-high eight rebounds.
 
"Believe it or not, I really like the way we played but we just didn't finish enough plays or make enough shots," Herenda continued. "If we defend and rebound a little better and make some more shots, this team is going to win a lot of games."
 
FDU wraps up non-conference play next Thursday, December 21 when they travel to Maryland to take on the Terrapins at 7:00 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.