HACKENSACK, N.J. – In a game that came down to the final seconds, the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team was edged 79-74 by Mount St. Mary's at Stratis Arena on Saturday evening.
 
Trailing by four with 27 seconds to go, FDU junior forward Earl Potts Jr. put in a layup to bring the Knights within two, 75-73. After Mount's Elijah Long missed a pair at the line, FDU junior guard Darian Anderson raced from end-to-end and drew the foul with seven seconds to go.
 
Anderson drained the first free throw and missed the second but Potts Jr. was there to tie up the offensive rebound and the Knights regained possession. On the ensuing play, a well-drawn up inbound play resulted in Potts under the basket for the game-tying layup opportunity but the Knights' forward was unable to finish through some contact and Mount's Mawdo Sallah captured the rebound and the victory for the Mountaineers.
 
For the second-straight game, five Knights scored in double figures led by sophomore forward Mike Holloway's 18-point, eight-rebound performance. Anderson finished with 17 points, four rebounds and three steals, while Potts chipped in 13 points.
 
Long led all scorers with 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting. The Mountaineers' sophomore guard added six rebounds and five assists to his ledger as well.
 
With the loss, the Knights (11-16, 9-7 NEC) find themselves tied for fourth with Saint Francis U, while the Mount (15-14, 13-3 NEC) helped solidify their chance at the top seed in the NEC with the win. FDU closes out the regular season against Saint Francis a week from today.

"We did everything today except win the game. That was an extremely hard-fought game and we had a great opportunity late to win it but it wasn't meant to be," said head coach Greg Herenda following the loss. "The game had a conference-tournament like atmosphere and both teams played like it. We just have to do a better job of lengthening leads when we have them. That means making multiple stops and converting on the other end -- it will happen and at the right time."
 
The Knights started hot with a 6-for-8 start, highlighted by a pair of Anderson 3-pointers, and led 15-7 just over five minutes into the game. But Elijah Long answered the bell for the Mount with 11 early points and the Mount led 26-25 at the eight-minute media timeout.
 
After an 8-for-11 (72.7%) start to the game, the Knights only connected on three of their next 13 shots as the Mount enhanced its lead to 33-27 with 4:07 remaining in the half.
 
The Knights responded to close the half with a 7-0 run and a Darnell Edge 3-pointer in the waning seconds sent the game to halftime tied at 34-34. Edge totaled five points and four rebounds in the half, while Anderson paced the Knights with 10 points and Mike Holloway added eight.
 
Long scored 11 with three rebounds and three assists in the stanza for the Mount, while his backcourt mate Junior Robinson tallied seven. As a team, the Mount shot 52.5 percent from the floor but connected on just 2-of-9 (22.2%) from downtown.
 
FDU finished the half with a 13-for-29 (44.8%) effort, including a 4-for-8 performance from three-point range.
 
The momentum continued for the Knights into the second half as they netted the first 10 points of the stanza and built a 44-34 lead.
 
By holding the Mount scoreless over the first six minutes of the half, FDU amassed a 17-0 stretch dating back to the first. Long snapped the drought for the Mount with a pair of free throws with 13:45 to play.
 
The Mount kept chipping away and eventually tied the game, 65-65, when Chris Wray dropped in a layup with an up-and-under move with 4:30 remaining.
 
The game remained tight all the way down to the wire and the teams found themselves deadlocked at 71-71 with 1:07 to go.
 
Four straight points by the Mount gave them a 75-71 lead with 27 seconds to go, which set the stage for the exciting finish.
 
In the loss, Edge scored 17 points for FDU and grabbed seven rebounds, while Stephan Jiggetts rounded out the Knights in double figures with 11 points and four rebounds.
 
FDU out-rebounded the Mountaineers 31-29 in the contest but lost the turnover battle 16-11. The Mountaineers shot 51 percent overall and 22-of-32 (68.8%) at the line but connected on just 5-of-16 (31.3%) from downtown.
 
The Knights shot 50 percent (25-of-50) overall and from three-point range (5-of-10), while they continued to succeed at the free throw line with a 19-of-24 (79.2%) performance.

"The most disappointing part of today was not winning for Tyrone. We all wanted to send him out on a winning note. Hopefully, we will have another home game in the conference tournament and we will get that one for him."
 
FDU closes out the regular season with a pair of road games beginning this Thursday, February 23 at Robert Morris. The Colonials currently occupy the eighth and final spot in the NEC Tournament.