FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team is back in action when they travel to Fairfield to take on Sacred Heart University on Thursday night.
 
The Knights (11-14, 9-5 NEC) are tied for second place in the NEC standings with LIU Brooklyn (16-11, 9-5 NEC) with four games to go.

Thursday is the second meeting between FDU and Sacred Heart (12-15, 7-7 NEC) this season. The Pioneers claimed a 74-70 victory in Hackensack, N.J. back on February 2.
 
Notes:
FDU – Sacred Heart

Additional Content:
FDU Men's Basketball Report 2/15
NEC Weekly Release 


Game Information:
Fairleigh Dickinson University (11-14, 9-5 NEC) at Sacred Heart (12-15, 7-7 NEC)
Where: Pitt Center – Fairfield, Conn.
When: Thursday, February 16 – 7:00 p.m.
Series History: Tonight is the 30th meeting on the hardwood between the Knights and Pioneers. Sacred Heart leads the all-time series 17-12
First Meeting:  Jan. 15, 2000 (FDU W, 67-48)
Last Meeting: Feb. 2, 2017 – (SHU W, 74-70) The loss was the Knights' first Northeast Conference home loss of the season. In the loss, FDU was unable to overcome an uncharacteristically poor free throw shooting performance, 13-of-21 (69.1%), and a huge rebounding advantage by the Pioneers, who won the battle on the glass 42-28. The Pioneers' effort on the glass -- which netted them 18 offensive rebounds -- resulted in 13 second-chance points. Stephan Jiggetts and Darian Anderson scored 20 points apiece and each dished out four assists to lead the Knights, while Darnell Edge tallied 15 points and converted all six of his free throw attempts in the loss. FDU out-shot the Pioneers 49.1 percent to 39.7 percent in the game but the Pioneers connected on eight 3-pointers compared to the Knights' five. Additionally, after a hot start from behind the arc in the first half, 5-of-11 (45.5%), the Knights failed to connect on any of their 10 3-point attempts in the second half.
 
Watch: NEC Front Row
Stats: Live Stats

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Sacred Heart Pioneers:
The Pioneers enter Thursday night's contest on a four-game winning streak, which began with their 74-70 victory over FDU back on February 2.
 
Over that four-game stretch the team has outscored its opponents by nearly 10 points a game. 
 
Last time out, the Pioneers topped the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils 77-62 at the Pitt Center. Sophomore guard Sean Hoehn led all scorers with 17 points, making five 3-pointers, while Quincy McKnight added 11 points, three assists and two steals. 
 
The team currently leads the NEC in assists per game at 14.5 and sits in sixth place in the conference standings.
 
The Pioneers are on the road for their final three games beginning this Saturday at LIU Brooklyn.

Head Coach: Anthony Latina (Brandeis '96)
Record at Sacred Heart: 44-76 (.377) – (Third Season)

Team Leaders:
Points: Quincy McKnight 19.1 ppg
Rebounds: Joseph Lopez 8.3 rpg
Assists: Charles Tucker Jr. 3.8 apg

Last Time Out for the Knights:
The Knights were 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' 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. 
 
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.
 
Herenda's Take: 
"We played very, very hard tonight but we needed to be a little more disciplined defensively."
 
"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."

News and Notes: 

Where We Stand: With their win last Thursday against CCSU, the Knights officially punched their NEC Tournament ticket. The team is heading back to the conference tournament for the second season in a row. Prior to this season, the team had not made consecutive NEC postseason appearances since 2005-07.
 
Now with four games left to play, the Knights are in the same position that they were a season ago at 9-5 in the conference standings. The team is tied with LIU Brooklyn for second and trail first-place Mount St. Mary's by three games. Behind the Knights are Wagner and Saint Francis U, who sit one game back at 8-6.
 
Jiggetts' Scoring: Junior guard Stephan Jiggetts is averaging 23.5 points per game over the last two meetings against the Pioneers. He's also leading the NEC in assists per game at 4.6 apg.
 
Double Trouble: In last season's game in Fairfield between these teams the Knights received a pair of double-doubles from Earl Potts Jr. and Mike Holloway. Potts finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Holloway amassed 15 points and 10 boards for his first career double-double.
 
Efficient Edge: Edge is excelling at the line (90.5%) and from the field (50.7%) this season. But what truly jumps out is his accuracy on two-point shots. From inside the arc this season, Edge is shooting 61.7 percent, which puts the 6'1" guard in the nation's top 100 in that category. Over the last five games, Edge is shooting 56.1 percent from the floor and 50 percent (9-of-18) from behind the arc.
 
Darting Darian: Anderson now has 157 career steals, which is 3rd most in FDU history. Anderson has come up with at least one steal in the last 15 games and has a theft in 21 of the team's 24 games this season. His 1.87 steals per game is also tops in the NEC.
 
The Iron Knight: Anderson missed the first game of his career last Saturday at LIU Brooklyn due to an injury. Prior to that the junior guard had started every game for the Knights since arriving in Hackensack for the 2014-15 season. The junior guard's streak ended at an impressive 86 games. 
 
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.
 
Next up:
The Knights will host Mount St. Mary's this Saturday, February 18 at 4:00 p.m. Prior to tip-off, the Knights will honor senior Tyrone O'Garro with the annual senior day ceremony.