FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team had five players score in double figures but it was not enough as Sacred Heart topped the Knights 91-81 on Thursday night at the Pitt Center.
 
Earl Potts Jr. led the Knights (11-15, 9-6 NEC) with 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Mike Holloway tallied his second double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
 
The Pioneers (13-15, 8-7 NEC), who have now won five in a row, shot a blistering 61.5 percent in the first half and drew 29 fouls in the contest, resulting in 38 free throw attempts. It is the second game in a row that FDU has allowed its opponent to attempt 38 free throws as LIU Brooklyn accomplished the feat last Saturday against the Knights.
 
Sophomore guard Quincy McKnight led all scorers with 26 points and nabbed six rebounds for Sacred Heart in the win, while Sean Hoehn finished with 17 points on an efficient 5-of-7 shooting effort.
 
With the loss, the Knights drop into a three-way tie for third place in the NEC standings along with Wagner and Saint Francis U. LIU Brooklyn now sits alone in second, one-game up on the three squads.

Following the loss, head coach Greg Herenda said, "We just never guarded the ball tonight and that hasn't happened to us in a long time. Our defensive field goal percentages have shrunk all year but tonight that simply was not the case."

On his team's comeback and the final stretch of the game, Herenda continued, "When we cut it to four, I thought we were in a great place but we came up empty on consecutive possessions. Those possessions -- at that point -- decided the game."

The Knights made 24-of-60 (40%) from the floor and knocked down 9-of-19 (47.4%) from behind the arc. Potts led the three-point shooting effort with a 4-of-6 performance, while sophomore guard Darnell Edge made 3-of-4 from long range and finished with 11 points.
 
After allowing the Pioneers to nab 18 offensive rebounds in the first matchup, the Knights dominated the offensive glass with a 14-7 margin. Holloway's six offensive caroms majorly aided that figure. Overall, FDU edged the Pioneers 36-34 on the boards.
 
Shots were falling early for both teams as the Knights buried their first four 3-pointers, while the Pioneers knocked down 7-of-10 from the floor, culminating in a 17-17 game just over seven minutes into action.
 
Potts gave the Knights a 28-25 lead with his second trey of the night, which made it a 5-for-5 start from behind the arc for FDU. However, Sacred Heart immediately answered with back-to-back treys by McKnight and Matej Buovac to recapture the lead 31-28 at the under-eight timeout.
 
The Pioneers continued to surge and increased their lead to nine, 41-32 with 5:16 to play in the half. Despite the Knights trimming away at the lead several times, the Pioneers managed to carry that nine-point edge into the locker room with a 51-42 halftime lead.
 
The points piled up in the half and so did the fouls. FDU went to the line 21 times, converting 16 of those chances, while the Pioneers knocked down 14-of-16 (87.5%) from the charity stripe as the teams combined to commit 27 first-half fouls.
 
Sacred Heart was red hot from the outset and knocked down 16-of-26 (61.5%) overall and 5-of-10 from three-point range. McKnight paced the Pioneers with 12 points at the break.
 
FDU made 38 percent of their shots in the half but 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from behind the arc. Potts lead all scorers at the break with 14 points, including a 3-for-4 effort on 3-pointers.
 
Sacred Heart stretched its lead to 15, 64-49, in the first four minutes of the second half. They maintained their cushion for most of the stanza but the Knights refused to go quietly.
 
With Potts and Darian Anderson spurring the way, the Knights trimmed a 13-point deficit down to four in the span of five minutes. Potts' fourth triple of the Knight made it an 81-77 game with 3:21 to play in regulation.
 
Down the stretch, the Knights were unable to come up with the key basket they needed and the Pioneers were able to close the game out at the free throw line.

For the Knights, Anderson finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals in the loss, while Stephan Jiggetts also tallied double figures with 12 points.

"The great thing about this league is that you get back on the horse quickly and Saturday cannot come soon enough for us. We need to step up to the challenge on Senior Day for Tyrone O'Garro. It is a shame that he will not be able to play but he has already given everything that he could give to our basketball program and to our entire University. I will never forget how much he has meant to all of us here at Fairleigh Dickinson."
 
The Knights return home for their final regular season game at Stratis Arena this Saturday, February 18 against first-place Mount St. Mary's. The team will honor redshirt senior Tyrone O'Garro prior to tip-off.