HACKENSACK, N.J. – Led by Earl Potts Jr.'s season-high 21 points and a solid team three-point shooting effort, Fairleigh Dickinson rolled to a 79-62 victory over Central Connecticut State on Thursday night.
 
With the win, the Knights (11-13, 9-4 NEC) secured a spot in the NEC Tournament for the second straight season. 

Although the temperature outside was freezing, the Knights were red hot as they buried 11 3-pointers in the win. The strong shooting and tremendous ball movement by FDU led to a season-high 22 assists, which is their largest output since they totaled 24 in their 2014 season opener – a 102-61 rout of NCAA Division III FDU-Florham.
 
Potts Jr. spearheaded the three-point barrage with a 4-for-8 performance from downtown en route to his game-high point total. The junior forward also added five rebounds and a season-high four steals to his ledger in the win.

"Getting Earl back to playing at the level he played tonight was very important for our team and for our future success down the stretch. We need to continue to guard, rebound, and play offense like we did tonight," said head coach Greg Herenda following the victory.

Herenda, who holds Merrimack College's single-game assist record with 22 helpers, continued, "Tonight showed just how much depth and talent we have on our roster and I am just so proud of how well our team played together tonight. To have 22 assists on 29 field goals is a very impressive number."

Junior guard Stephan Jiggetts nearly finished with a double-double as he amassed 10 points and nine assists, while sophomores Darnell Edge and Malik Miller both reached double figures with 13 points apiece. Miller's output was a new career-high for the sophomore center.
 
The win snaps a three-game skid for the Knights who completed the season sweep of the Blue Devils (5-19, 3-10 NEC).

"Central came in here playing very good basketball and we knew that we had to be ready for that challenge and we were, said Herenda. "We played very hard, pushed the ball up the floor and shared the ball beautifully. We really needed a win tonight and that is exactly how our players performed. "

Overall, FDU shot 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the floor but just 58.8 percent (10-of-17) from the free throw line.  They also won the turnover battle as they forced 16 CCSU miscues compared to 12 giveaways of their own.
 
The Knights built a 10-4 lead in the early going thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Potts Jr. and Jiggetts.

The early momentum carried on through the first 20 minutes of action as the first half belonged completely to the Knights. They led by as many as 22 points in the opening stanza before settling on a 15-point cushion, 46-31, at the break.
 
Potts Jr. connected on 3-of-5 from long range as the Knights knocked down 8-of-15 (53.3%) from three-point land in the half. The team shot 51.5 percent overall (17-of-33), while CCSU connected on 14-of-32 (43.8%) and 2-of-8 (25%) from distance.
 
The Blue Devils were plagued by a 1-for-8 (12.5%) effort from the free throw line in the stanza.
 
Potts Jr. paced the Knights at the break with 12 points, while Edge added 10 tallies and four assists.
 
The Knights had a pair of highlight-reel dunks in the half including a soaring one-handed slam from freshman Kaleb Bishop, who flew down the center of the lane for the throwdown. Bishop battled foul trouble but finished an efficient 3-for-5 for six points and three rebounds in his 16 minutes of action.
 
The team was high-flying all night as the Knights continued to surge in the second half with 3-pointers and soaring dunks. An alleyoop from Edge to Potts Jr. with 4:47 to go, gave the them their largest lead of the game at 24 points, 77-53.
 
With the game out of reach, the Blue Devils closed the game on a 9-2 spurt, which finalized the 17-point FDU victory.
 
Junior forward Mustafa Jones led the Blue Devils with 15 points and seven rebounds and was an efficient 7-of-11 (63.6%), while senior forward Tidell Pierre and sophomore guard Eric Bowles each tallied 11 in the loss.
 
Pierre's effort on the glass helped CCSU to a 36-32 rebounding edge including 14 offensive boards.
 
Sophomore forward Mike Holloway topped the Knights in rebounding with six boards to go along with his eight points in the win. 
 
The Knights are on the road for their next contest when they visit LIU Brooklyn this Saturday, February 11 at 4:30 p.m.