LORETTO, Pa. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team dropped its regular season finale 70-64 at Saint Francis U on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Knights (11-18, 9-9 NEC), who will either be the No. 6 or No. 7 seed in the NEC Tournament, now await the rest of Saturday's results to find out who their NEC Tournament Quarterfinal opponent will be.  
 
Sophomore guard Darnell Edge led the Knights with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting and nabbed four steals, while Darian Anderson scored 18 and tallied a game-high seven assists to go along with four rebounds and three steals.
 
The Knights led by eight with 8:39 to play but a six-plus minute scoreless drought allowed the Red Flash (14-15, 11-7 NEC) to erase the deficit and capture the lead and the win.

"Give Saint Francis credit -- we had an eight-point lead with about eight minutes to go and they stayed poised and made all of the plays down the stretch," said head coach Greg Herenda following the loss. "We had a number of threes late that went halfway down and came out. It is a frustrating loss because we were in a great position to win but just could not close it out."

Herenda continued, "We had a chance to win both of these games out here and just came up short. Now we have to travel home and get ready for the tournament. We made the road somewhat more difficult but this tournament is completely wide open."
 
After shooting over 50 percent in each of the last two games, the Knights struggled on Saturday, connecting on 22-of-63 (34.9%) overall and 7-of-29 (24.1%) from behind the arc.
 
The Red Flash connected on 20-of-56 (35.7%) and 7-of-23 (30.4%) from three-point range but took advantage at the free throw line with a 23-of-27 (85.2%) effort.
 
Isaiah Blackmon paced the Red Flash with 20 points, while Jamaal King had 16 and Josh Nebo double-doubled with 11 points and 12 rebounds. SFU out-rebounded the Knights 46-34 in the win.
 
The Knights defense forced four turnovers in the first five minutes, which helped propel them to a 13-5 lead. The Red Flash held the Knights scoreless over the next five minutes as they erased the deficit with an 8-0 run.
 
With the game tied, the Knights scored six straight, highlighted by an Anderson four-point play for a 19-13 lead. Again, the Red Flash counter-punched with six straight of their own to quickly tie the game at the under-eight media timeout.
 
The Red Flash received a huge boost from Blackmon, who knocked down 3-of-4 from downtown in the half and helped the home team take a 34-28 lead into the break. Blackmon and Keith Braxton led the Red Flash with nine points apiece at intermission.
 
Anderson tallied 11 first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting to lead the Knights and added three assists to his ledger, while Edge and Mike Holloway scored six points apiece in the stanza.
 
FDU shot 35.5 percent (11-of-31) in the half and 2-of-11 (18.2%) from downtown with Anderson making the two 3-pointers.
 
The Red Flash made just one more field goal than the Knights (12-of-32) but knocked down 5-of-14 (35.7%) from downtown and enjoyed a 25-16 advantage on the glass. Braxton's six rebounds and Blackmon's five led the team's rebounding effort.
 
SFU stretched its lead to nine, 46-37, early in the second half before Earl Potts Jr. sparked a Knights comeback. The junior swingman scored eight points in a row for the team, including a pair of treys as they clawed to within two, 46-44 with 13 minutes to play.
 
Then it was Edge's turn. The sophomore guard netted the Knights' next seven points, including a nifty reverse layup, which put FDU in front 52-46 and capped an 18-3 run. Edge continued to percolate and nailed a corner 3-pointer to give the Knights their largest lead of the game, 57-49 with 8:39 to go.
 
But the Red Flash answered back with a 13-0 run and captured a 62-57 lead with under three minutes to play. A pair of Jiggetts free throws snapped a six-plus minute scoreless drought for the Knights, who trailed 64-60 with one minute to play, however, they were unable to get any closer as the Red Flash held on for the win.

Potts finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Holloway scored 12 and matched Potts with seven rebounds. 
 
FDU will compete in a road NEC Tournament Quarterfinal game on Wednesday, March 1 with opponent and time to be determined.
 
*Information regarding tickets and transportation for FDU Fans to the NEC Quarterfinal game scheduled for Wednesday, March 1 will be determined on Sunday, February 26.  Please visit FDUKnights.com on Sunday for more information.*