HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team opens up a three-game homestand on Thursday night when they square off against Sacred Heart for the first time this season. 

The Knights (10-11, 8-2 NEC) and the Pioneers (8-15, 3-7 NEC) split their two meetings last season with each team coming away with a win on the opposition's home floor. The Knights won the first meeting 80-68 on January 7 in Fairfield, Conn. before the Pioneers returned the favor with a 91-86 victory on Feb. 20 in Hackensack. The loss for FDU was their last conference defeat of the season as they proceeded to win their last five NEC games and capture the conference championship.
 
Notes:
FDU –Sacred Heart

Additional Content:
NEC Weekly Release 
FDU Men's Basketball Report 2/1 

Game Information:
Fairleigh Dickinson University (10-11, 8-2 NEC) vs. Sacred Heart University (8-15, 3-7 NEC)
Where: Stratis Arena inside the Rothman Center – Hackensack, N.J.
When: Thursday, February 2 – 7:00 p.m.
Series History: This is the 29^th meeting on the hardwood between the Pioneers and Knights. Sacred Heart leads the all-time series 16-12.
First Meeting:   Jan. 15, 2000 (FDU W, 67-48)
Last Meeting: Feb. 20, 2016– (SHU W, 91-86) Stephan Jiggetts led FDU with 27 points and five rebounds. FDU and Sacred Heart went back-and-forth on the scoreboard for the entire game with 14 lead changes and the score tied 13 times. SHU's Cane Broome scored a game-high 39 points and led the Pioneer comeback as they rallied from seven-points down in the second half to earn the win.

Tickets: FDUKnightsTickets.com
Watch: NECFrontRow  - Sitesh Shah (PxP) and Rich Terpak (Color Analyst)
Stats: Live Stats

Follow the Knights on Social Media:
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Sacred Heart Pioneers:
The Pioneers have dropped four straight entering Thursday's matchup with the Knights. Last time out they suffered a 67-53 loss to first-place Mount St. Mary's.  

In that game, the Pioneers held a 36-33 halftime edge but a 25 percent shooting performance in the second half allowed the Mountaineers to surpass them. Sean Hoehn paced the Pioneers in the loss with a game-high 17 points, while Joe Lopez added 10 points and six rebounds for SHU.
 
The Pioneers' last win came in dramatic fashion as they topped Bryant 112-110 in a three-overtime thriller. In the victory, sophomore guard Joe McKnight poured in 44 points, which earned him national player of the week accolades.
 
Notable Ranks:
Assists per game–  14.52 NEC 1^st
Field Goal Percentage – 43.9%/NEC 3^rd
Free Throw Percentage – 69.2%/ NEC 3^rd
 
Head Coach: Anthoyn Latina (Brandeis '96)
Record at Sacred Heart: 40-76 (.437) – (Fifth Season)

Team Leaders:
Points: Quiny McKnight 19.0 ppg
Rebounds: Joe Lopez 8.6 rpg
Assists: Charles Tucker 4.1 apg

Last Time Out for the Knights:
The Knights dropped an overtime thriller, 73-72, at Bryant University on Saturday afternoon.
With nine seconds remaining in overtime, Darnell Edge stole Bryant's inbound pass and found Earl Potts Jr., who raced ahead for the go-ahead layup, which briefly gave the Knights a 72-71 lead.
 
On the ensuing possession, the NEC's leading scorer, Nisre Zouzoua, delivered the heroics for Bryant (8-15, 5-5 NEC) as he pulled up just inside the 3-point line and nailed the long two-pointer, which resulted in the game-winner with 2.4 ticks to go. The Knights had one final chance but Darian Anderson's half-court heave ricocheted off the mark as the final horn sounded.
 
The Knights shot 39.7 percent in the game but were unable to find the touch from 3-point range. After knocking down 5-of-15 (33.3%) in the first half, the team went 1-for-11 from downtown combined in the second half and overtime.
 
The team was able to compensate for its struggles from behind the arc by netting a 16-of-19 (84.2%) performance at the free throw line and scoring 30 points in the paint.
 
Anderson paced the Knights with 19 points, while Potts Jr. finished 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including four 3-pointers.
 
Herenda's Take: 
"That was a great college basketball game. We made a great stop to finish regulation and made a great steal late to go ahead, but Zouzoua hit the big shot that decided it."
 
"I am very proud of how hard our guys battled but we just didn't do enough of the little things throughout the game. We lost the loose ball and the 50/50 rebound game and that eventually came back to bite us."
 
"We again split on a tough road trip but we had two victories in our grasp and we just couldn't get the final stop to seal the deal. We will learn from today and continue to improve -- this is what we do."

News and Notes: 
 
Home Sweet Home: The Knights, who had tremendous success on the road last season in conference play with a 7-2 record, have excelled at home thus far in 2016-17. The team is out to a 5-0 start in home conference tilts. The five wins are more than they totaled all of last season, when they were 4-5 in NEC home games.
 
Stealing Wins: The Knights are a perfect 7-0 when they nab eight or more steals, which bodes well for Thursday's contest as the Pioneers turn the ball over 16 times a game. The Pioneers' have turned it over 369 times this season, which is 10 most in the country.
 
Darting Darian: Junior guard Darian Anderson wreaked havoc on opposing ballhandlers with 60 steals last season. The 60 thefts rank 5th all-time in Knights' single-season history. He now has 148 career steals, which is 4th most in school history. Anderson has come up with at least one steal in the last 12 games and has a theft in 18 of the team's 21 games this season.
 
Flashback: In last season's first meeting between FDU and Sacred Heart, Earl Potts Jr. scored a team-high 20 points and nabbed 11 rebounds as the Knights earned the 12-point win. Potts Jr.'s double-double was his second of five on the campaign.
 
Mike's Makes: Sophomore forward Mike Holloway has made 64.8 percent of his shots in conference play this season. Holloway is an impressive 46-for-71 in conference games, which is 3rd best in the NEC.
 
Charitable Donations: All season long the Knights have thrived at the free throw line. The team has posted a 76.4 percent clip overall, including a 81.4 percent effort in NEC play. Both figures are tops in the conference while the 76.4 percent overall number is 20th best in the nation. 
 
Steph's Starring: Stephan Jiggetts is averaging career-highs across the board this season. After tallying a triple-double in the Knights' win over Lipscomb earlier this season, Jiggetts broke out with another career-day at St. Francis on 1/26. The junior point guard poured in a career-best 28 points and nailed all 10 of his free throws. He also scored the Knights' final nine points to help complete the season-sweep of the Terriers.
 
Be My Guest: Tune in every Sunday to "The Greg Herenda Show" on WFDU and iHeartRadio. All broadcasts can be found at fduknights.com/herendashow. Coach Herenda's guest this week is Fairleigh Dickinson basketball hall of famer Peter Tierney.
 
Next up:
The Knights host Wagner College this Saturday, February 4 at 11:00 a.m. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU. All FDU students in attendance receive a free breakfast buffet beginning at 10:00 a.m.