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Men's Basketball

Men's Basketball Hosts Wagner Saturday Morning on ESPNU

HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball looks to snap its modest two-game skid when Wagner College comes to town this Saturday. Game time is set for 11:00 a.m.

The Knights (10-12, 8-3 NEC) and the Seahawks (10-11, 6-5 NEC) met up in last year's NEC Championship Game, where the Knights prevailed 87-79. This is the second meeting between the squads this season as the Knights came away with a one-point victory, 70-69, on Staten Island back on January, 5.
 
FDU is currently in second place in the NEC standings, trailing Mount St. Mary's by two games, while Wagner sits alone in fifth place.
 
FDU students! Be sure to come out early as free breakfast will be served to all FDU students with valid ID beginning at 10:00 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis. All students will also receive an FDU wig for Saturday's "Wig Out for Wagner" promotion courtesy of Student Life.

Notes:
FDU – Wagner

Additional Content:
NEC Weekly Release 
FDU Men's Basketball Report 2/1 

Game Information:
Fairleigh Dickinson University (10-12, 8-3 NEC) vs. Wagner College (10-11, 6-5 NEC)
Where: Stratis Arena inside the Rothman Center – Hackensack, N.J.
When: Saturday, February 4 – 11:01 a.m.
Series History: Tonight is the 103rd meeting on the hardwood between the Knights and Seahawks. FDU leads the all-time series 52-50.
First Meeting:  Dec. 16, 1955 (Wagner W, 83-68)
Last Meeting: Jan. 5, 2017– (FDU W, 70-69) In the first meeting between the teams since last year's Northeast Conference Championship Game, the defending conference champion Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team prevailed with a thrilling 70-69 victory over Wagner College at Spiro Sports Center. The Knights held a double-digit lead with under five minutes to go but a four-plus minute scoreless drought allowed Wagner to claw to within one in the final minute. However, for the third straight game, the Knights' defense came up clutch and turned away two game-winning chances by the Seahawks in the waning seconds to secure the victory. Stephan Jiggetts led the way for the Knights with 17 points and seven assists, while Mike Holloway finished with 16 points and a team-high six boards. The Knights also received a huge contribution from Ghassan Nehme, who knocked down 4-of-5 from 3-point range, and finished with 12 points.

Tickets: FDUKnightsTickets.com
Watch: ESPNU -  Chris Hassel (PxP) and Adam Finkelstein (Color Analyst)
Stats: Live Stats

Follow the Knights on Social Media:
            #uKnighted
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Wagner College Seahawks:
The Seahawks have won two straight entering Saturday's tilt with the Knights.  

Last time out, they completed the two-game season sweep of Central Connecticut by earning a 70-60 victory in New Britain, Conn on Thursday. Senior guard Michael Carey finished with a game-high 19 points, 11 of which coming in the opening stanza on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor. In playing the entire game, he tied a team-high with six rebounds, while dishing out three assists in his 40 minutes of action. Corey Henson was the second Seahawk in double figures with 13 points, all coming in the first half of action. Henson is sitting on 900 career points.
 
Wagner features the NEC's top defense at 65.5 points allowed per game. They are also one of only three teams in the NEC with a positive scoring margin at +2.0. They have held opponents to 40.9 percent shooting which is tops in the conference, while dominating on the glass with a +8.0 rebounding margin – 10th best in the nation.
 
They also lead the NEC in rebounds per game at 39.3 and allow the fewest to the opposition at 31.1.
 
Head Coach: Bashir Mason (Drexel '07)
Record at Wagner: 76-58 (.567) – (Fifth Season)

Team Leaders:
Points: Corey Henson 13.7 ppg
Rebounds: Michael Carey 8.9 rpg
Assists: JoJo Cooper 3.5 apg

Last Time Out for the Knights:
The Knights dropped their first NEC home game of the season on Thursday night, falling to Sacred Heart 74-70 at Stratis Arena.
 
The Knights were unable to overcome an uncharacteristically poor free throw shooting performance, 13-of-21 (69.1%), and a huge rebounding advantage by the Pioneers (9-15, 4-7 NEC), 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.
 
With 1:03 to play in regulation and the game tied 70-70, Sacred Heart's junior forward Joseph Lopez grabbed the rebound off of a blocked shot and dropped in a layup.
 
After the Knights missed a go-ahead 3-point attempt on the other end, Quincy McKnight stepped to the line for the Pioneers and missed the front end of the one-and-one, however, Chris Robinson corralled the offensive board for Sacred Heart. Robinson promptly knocked down both free throw attempts and sealed the win.
 
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.
 
Herenda's Take: 
"We were a step slow to every rebound and loose ball -- and they eventually add up – and they did."
 
"We had the lead late but again we didn't get the big stop that we needed and not rebounding the late missed free throw proved to be critical."
 
"That was our first conference home loss and it stings – but we need to move on and get prepared for another tough conference game on Saturday."

News and Notes: 
 
Home Sweet Home: The Knights, who had tremendous success on the road last season in conference play with a 7-2 record, have excelled at home thus far in 2016-17. The team is out to a 5-1 start in home conference tilts. The five wins are more than they totaled all of last season, when they were 4-5 in NEC home games.
 
ESPNU: Today is the Knights' first regular season televised ESPN game in school history. 
 
Darting Darian: Junior guard Darian Anderson wreaked havoc on opposing ballhandlers with 60 steals last season. The 60 thefts rank 5th all-time in Knights' single-season history. He now has 151 career steals, which is tied for 3rd in FDU history. Anderson has come up with at least one steal in the last 13 games and has a theft in 19 of the team's 22 games this season.
 
Stealing Wins: The Knights are 7-1 when they nab eight or more steals this season. 
 
Block Party: Sophomore forward Mike Holloway blocked a career-high four shots in Thursday's loss to Sacred Heart. As a team, the Knights swatted away eight shots, which is their most against a Division I opponent this season.
 
Mike's Makes: Holloway has made 63.2 percent of his shots in conference play this season. Holloway is an impressive 48-for-76 in conference games, which is 3rd best in the NEC.
 
Jiggetts' Helpers: Junior point guard Stephan Jiggetts currently leads the NEC in assists per game at 4.36 per contest. Jiggetts is averaging career-highs in points (14.1 ppg) and assists this season. 
 
Steph's Starring: After tallying a triple-double in the Knights' win over Lipscomb earlier this season, Jiggetts broke out with another career-day at St. Francis on 1/26. The junior point guard poured in a career-best 28 points and nailed all 10 of his free throws. He also scored the Knights' final nine points to help complete the season-sweep of the Terriers.
 
Charitable Donations: All season long the Knights have thrived at the free throw line. The team has posted a 75.7 percent clip overall, including a 79.5 percent effort in NEC play. Both figures are tops in the conference while the 75.7 percent overall number is 20th best in the nation. Darnell Edge's 90.5 percent effort leads the team as the sophomore guard has only missed four times (48-of-52) at the charity stripe this season.
 
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. Coach Herenda's guest this week is Fairleigh Dickinson basketball hall of famer Peter Tierney.
 
Next up:
The Knights wrap up their three-game homestand next Thursday, February 9 against Central Connecticut State. That game will tip-off at 5:00 p.m. and air on ESPN3.
 
 

 
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Players Mentioned

Darian Anderson

#2 Darian Anderson

G
6' 1"
Junior
Darnell Edge

#1 Darnell Edge

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
Mike Holloway Jr.

#34 Mike Holloway Jr.

F
6' 7"
Sophomore
Stephan  Jiggetts

#0 Stephan Jiggetts

G
6' 1"
Junior
Ghassan Nehme

#23 Ghassan Nehme

G
6' 3"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Darian Anderson

#2 Darian Anderson

6' 1"
Junior
G
Darnell Edge

#1 Darnell Edge

6' 1"
Sophomore
G
Mike Holloway Jr.

#34 Mike Holloway Jr.

6' 7"
Sophomore
F
Stephan  Jiggetts

#0 Stephan Jiggetts

6' 1"
Junior
G
Ghassan Nehme

#23 Ghassan Nehme

6' 3"
Sophomore
G
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