BROOKLYN, N.Y. –  The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team was unable to complete the season sweep of LIU Brooklyn on Saturday, falling to the Blackbirds 75-69 at Steinberg Wellness Center.
 
The loss snaps the Knights' (11-14, 9-5 NEC) three-game win streak over the Blackbirds (16-11, 9-5 NEC), who are now tied with FDU for second place in the NEC.
 
Sophomore guard Darnell Edge paced FDU in the loss with a game-high 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting and added five rebounds. Four Knights tallied double figures on the night as Kaleb Bishop netted 13 points, Malik Miller had 12 and Earl Potts Jr. scored 10.
 
For the first time in the last three seasons, the Knights played without their leading scorer Darian Anderson, who missed his first game as a Knight after 86 consecutive games.
 
Three Blackbirds – Jerome Frink, Iverson Fleming and Raiquan Clark – all finished with 12 points to pace the team in the victory. The Blackbirds carried a 40-36 edge on the glass and edged out the turnover battle 14-12.

At 41.3 percent, the Knights shot a higher percentage from the floor than LIU (40.7%) but the home team made 33 trips to the line compared to just 14 by FDU. The Blackbirds converted 22 of those 33 chances (66.7%), while the Knights went 12-of-14 (85.7%) in the game.

"We played very very hard tonight but we needed to be a little more disciplined defensively, said head coach Greg Herenda following the loss. "We put them on the foul line 30 times in the second half and that quite simply was the difference in the game. It took us awhile to get on track offensively tonight but we just didn't make enough perimeter shots to beat a good team in their building."
 
"This league is crazy right now -- anyone can beat anyone, anywhere, on any given night. Put your seatbelt on for the next two weekends and into the conference tournament."

Edge knocked down three of his five attempts from three-point range but the rest of the Knights combined to go 2-for-16 from behind the arc.
 
After the Blackbirds jumped out to an early lead, the Knights quickly erased it with seven straight points to take a 10-9 lead four minutes into action.
 
LIU fought back, and with a two-point lead, put together a 14-2 run, which provided them a 32-18 cushion. Over that stretch, FDU struggled to a 1-for-9 shooting clip.
 
However, FDU managed to weather the storm and chipped away to get the deficit back to single-digits, 37-30, at the half. Over the first 20 minutes, FDU shot 12-of-31 (38.7%) overall and 3-of-12 (25%) from behind the arc, while LIU made 15-of-33 (45.5%), including 4-of-10 from downtown.
 
Sophomores Edge and Miller paced the Knights at the break with eight points apiece. LIU featured a balanced attack with Clark and Raul Frias coming off the bench to tally eight and seven points, respectively.
 
The Knights started fast in the second half with a 6-for-8 stretch and quickly nabbed the lead five minutes in. Edge tallied seven points over that stretch including a corner trey and a run-out layup, which put the Knights on top.
 
LIU jumped back on top and following a 9-2 run, took a 56-48 advantage. Frink and Fleming combined for all nine points for the Blackbirds.
 
The Knights responded with a 9-1 run of their own to tie the game at 57-57 with 7:30 to play. The game remained tight down to the final minute when Fleming hit a pair of free throws to put LIU up 69-67 with 52 seconds to go.
 
On the Knights' next possession, Bishop had two chances at the rim but was unable to finish through the contact and LIU took over possession. The Blackbirds were then able to close the game out at the free throw line and finalize the victory.

Junior guard Stephan Jiggetts dished out a game-high eight assists to go along with eight points in the loss, while Bishop nabbed seven rebounds to top the Knights on the glass.
 
FDU returns to the road for their next contest as they visit Sacred Heart this Thursday, February 16 at 7:00 p.m.