COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team dropped its final non-conference game of the season 75-50 to Maryland at the XFINITY Center on Thursday night.
 
In his return to his home area, Washington, D.C. native Darian Anderson led all scorers with 17 points. Anderson also added five rebounds, four steals and three assists to his ledger in the loss.
 
Junior forward Mike Holloway Jr. finished with eight points and eight rebounds for FDU and sophomore forward Kaleb Bishop scored seven.
 
The Terrapins featured a balanced attack with six players in double figures led by Darryl Morsell and Anthony Cowan Jr., who scored 13 apiece. Sophomore guard Kevin Huerter was the catalyst for the home Terps as he double-doubled with 12 points and 15 rebounds to go along with a game-high eight assists.

The Knights were edged by two points in the second half but a 23-point halftime deficit, proved to be insurmountable. The key stretch was a 24-0 Maryland run that began with just under 10 minutes to play in the first half and concluded with under two minutes remaining.
 
Despite turning the Terrapins over 17 times and possessing a healthy 17-6 advantage in second-chance points, the Knights' off-shooting night proved to be too difficult to overcome. The team saw shots rim out throughout the night as they posted their lowest field goal percentage of the season at 23.9 percent (16-of-67). The 17 second-chance points for FDU came courtesy of a season-high 18 offensive rebounds, which accounted for half of the team's rebound total (36).
 
Conversely, the Terrapins followed a blistering 70.1 percent first-half performance with a 30.8 percent clip in the second half. After knocking down 75 percent from behind the arc in the opening stanza, the home team connected on just 1-of-11 (9.1 percent) from behind the arc in the final 20 minutes.

"Tonight we just got stuck on 19 points forever and that is when Maryland really distanced themselves from us," said head coach Greg Herenda following the loss. "Cowan and Huerter were a handful all night long and we simply could not make a shot all night long."

Herenda continued, "I really am proud of how we battled in the second half and held them to 31 percent from the floor and eight percent from three. It seemed as if there literally was a lid on our basket all night long but we continued to play hard for every second. Now, we take a deep breath -- enjoy the holidays and get into conference play. We will be ready."
 
After trailing 10-4 at the first media timeout, a 7-2 FDU spurt capped by a Bishop bucket made it a 12-11 game. However, a 7-for-8 start from the field, which included six points apiece from Ivan Bender and Jared Nickens, provided the home team with a 20-14 edge at the second media timeout.
 
The Knights answered with a quick 5-0 burst highlighted by a three-pointer from Jahlil Jenkins, which made it a one-point game, 20-19 midway through the first stanza. Jenkins, the reigning NEC Rookie of the Week, scored five points and nabbed three steals on the night.
 
The Terrapins promptly responded with the game-changing 24-0 run, which included trifectas from Huerter and Nickens. The home team connected on four of their first five from long range and established a 41-19 lead.
 
Freshman forward Noah Morgan ended a nearly eight-minute scoreless stretch for the Knights with a putback layup with under two to play but the Knights entered the break trailing 46-23.
 
The Terrapins were red hot in the first half, connecting on 15-of-21 (71.4 percent) compared to the Knights' 9-of-34 (26.5 percent). Huerter filled up the box score to pace the Terrapins with 10 points, six assists and four rebounds at the break. The sophomore guard made all four of his shots, including two from long range as the home team made 6-of-8 from downtown in the half and limited the Knights to 2-of-14 from behind the arc.
 
Over the first 12 minutes of the second half, the Knights outscored the Terrapins 14-12 as they limited the home team to 0-for-7 from behind the arc. Unfortunately, the Knights were unable to knock down their own shots as they connected on 1-of-11 from behind the arc over that span and 4-of-24 overall.
 
The Knights would get as close as 19 points, 67-48, before the final horn sounded. The defense stepped up for FDU as they limited Huerter to just one field goal in the second half on eight tries and held the Terrapins to 30.8 percent overall.
 
Despite the 18 total offensive rebounds, the Knights were out-rebounded in total by Maryland 47-36.
 
The loss caps the non-conference portion of the Knights' schedule as they begin Northeast Conference play on December 29 at LIU Brooklyn.