Postgame Press Conference
Highlights

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The sixth-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team battled until the final horn but their last-chance effort was off the mark as No. 3 Wagner prevailed with a 72-70 victory in the NEC Tournament Semifinals at Spiro Sports Center on Wednesday night.
 
The game featured six lead changes and six ties before Wagner eventually went ahead 72-70 on a JoJo Cooper putback layup with 1:40 to go.
 
The teams traded defensive stops before the Knights had the game's final two chances. Junior guard Stephan Jiggetts attempted a difficult floater in the lane, which was off the mark, however, in his attempt to corral the rebound, Wagner's Michael Carey traveled and the Knights retained possession.
 
After each team took a timeout, the Knights had possession with 2.5 ticks to go. Wagner defended the inbound well and forced the Knights into a tough shot as Darian Anderson received the pass near the sideline and had to take an off-balanced 3-pointer, which rimmed out as the final horn sounded.
 
With the win, the Seahawks (16-13, 11-7 NEC) advance to Saturday's semifinal round with opponent to be determined.
 
Carey was the story as the Seahawks' forward poured in 32 points on 11-of-15 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. The senior made his first nine shots and 11 of his first 12 and finished 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
 
Anderson double-doubled for the Knights (11-19, 9-9 NEC) with 19 points and 10 rebounds and added four assists and three steals in the loss. His backcourt mate Jiggetts led the Knights in scoring with 22 points, while Earl Potts Jr. had 16 and Mike Holloway tallied 11.

Following the game, head coach Greg Herenda said, "I am very proud of my team tonight. That was a great conference tournament game played by two teams that competed at a very high level. The difference was quite obvious -- we just didn't have an answer for Carey. He was immense but I still loved how hard we played and how hard we fought for the entire 40 minutes."

On his junior point guard Jiggetts' performance and the team overall, "Steph was awesome tonight. He kept us in the game throughout and the rest of the guys pulled their weight. We just could not extend the lead when we got it to four and that's been our Achilles heel all year."

The Seahawks captured a 16-4 lead in early going as the Knights started just 1-for-8 from the field.
 
Carey, All-NEC First Team selection,  sparked the home team's fast start as the senior knocked down his first four shots including two from downtown.
 
The Knights missed their first five from behind the arc until Jiggetts cashed the team's first with 6:10 to play in the opening half, which forced a Wagner timeout and made it a 29-20 game.
 
Jiggetts' 3-pointer set off a string of 10 straight for the Knights as they pulled to within four, 29-25 with under four minutes to play in the half.
 
Carey was dominant in the first half as he connected 7-for-7 from the floor including all three of his shots from behind the arc, en route to a halftime-high 17 points.
 
Despite the big run that pulled them back into the game, the Knights headed into intermission trailing 38-32. Jiggetts paced FDU with 13 points, while Potts had nine on 4-of-6 shooting,
 
The Knights shot 40.6 percent from the field but just 2-of-11 (18.2%) from downtown in the half, while the Seahawks were posted a 51.6 percent shooting effort and 5-for-12 (41.7%) from three-point land.
 
Aided by six points from Anderson, the Knights pulled to within two, 51-49, in the first five minutes of the second half.
 
Jiggetts nailed a long 3-pointer at the 10:46 mark to give the Knights their first lead of the game, 54-53.
 
From that point on, the game remained tight as the lead changed hands two more times and headed to the final two minutes tied at 70-70.
 
After Holloway put his team up by one with a free throw, he then blocked Carey, which led to a tough fade-away jumper by Anderson, which put the Knights up by three.
 
Immediately at the other end, Corey Henson drained a huge corner 3-pointer for Wagner, which tied the game at 70-70 with two minutes to go. Henson finished with 14 points in the game – none bigger than that 3-pointer.
 
The dramatics played out with each team battling to the final whistle but ultimately the Knights came up short. The loss snapped FDU's three-game win streak at Wagner as they drop to 7-2 all-time against the Seahawks in the NEC Tournament.
 
For the game, Wagner shot 46.6 percent overall, 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from behind the arc, and 11-of-16 (68.8%) at the line. The Seahawks also narrowly out-rebounded the Knights 37-36 but FDU won the turnover battle 13-9.

The Knights knocked down 40.3 percent overall but just 4-of-19 (21.1%) from 3-point range. They finished 16-of-21 (76.2%) from the line.

Herenda concluded, "I cannot thank all of our fans enough that traveled to Staten Island to the game tonight.  They were absolutely awesome and I can't tell you how much it meant to every single player and staff member in our program."

"It will take some time to digest this season. We were 8-1 in this league and ready to take off but we just could not maintain that level of play in February. We will bounce back, take some well needed time off, and get back to work. That's what we do and I know that this team will regroup and be ready for the 2017-18 season."