Game 16
Fairleigh Dickinson (5-10, 2-2 NEC) vs LIU Brooklyn (6-11, 1-3 NEC)
Date: Thursday, January 11, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Rothman Center – Hackensack, N.J.
Coverage: NEC Front Row
Live Stats

The Knights square off with LIU Brooklyn for the second time this season when they welcome the Blackbirds to the Rothman Center on Thursday night.
 
The Series...FDU leads 53-50
at FDU…26-24
Last Five...4-1
Streak...W1
Last Meeting...FDU 82, LIU Brooklyn 71 (12/29/18 at LIU)
 
Knights of Late: The Knights are 2-2 in the NEC after splitting each of the first two weeks of conference play. The team has played eight of its last nine away from home, including three of four NEC contests but now will play back-to-back games inside the Rothman Center for the first time since Nov. 22 & 26. The Knights hope to continue their stellar play in Hackensack where they are 4-1 on the season with the lone loss an impressive comeback effort in a loss to Princeton. After missing the first two games of the season with an injury senior guard Darian Anderson appears to be hitting his stride and contributed 17.5 ppg, 4.0 apg and 3.5 spg over the last two outings. Anderson poured in a game-high 21 points in the Knights' loss at Wagner Saturday. His 2.4 steals per game is tops in the NEC and spearheads an FDU defense which ranks 12^th in the nation at 9.2 steals per game.
 
Scouting LIU: After a 1-1 start to NEC play the Blackbirds have dropped two straight games -- both on the road at Saint Francis U (68-85) and Robert Morris (79-88). The duo of Joel Hernandez and Raiquan Clark serve as the focal point of the Blackbirds' attack, each averaging 18.8 points and 18.1 points per contest, respectively. Hernandez pulls down 6.6 rebounds per game, while Clark averages 6.5 boards. As a team, LIU's strength lies in its ability to rebound the basketball. The Blackbirds enter Thursday's contest second in the NEC and 46th in the nation in total rebounds. Offensively, their 76.1 points per game and 245 free throws made are both second best in the NEC.
 
Knights Last Time Out:
The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team fell 73-65 to Wagner at the Spiro Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.

After shooting 51 percent from the floor in the first half, the Knights (5-10, 2-2 NEC) were limited to just five field goals on 20 attempts over the first 15 minutes of the second half as the Seahawks erased a three-point halftime deficit and captured a double-digit lead.
 
The Knights would get within one possession in the final two minutes but were unable to tie the game or take the lead again. Wagner's (10-5, 3-1 NEC) defensive pressure in the second half and a 35-9 advantage at the free throw line proved to be the difference in the contest. The Knights connected on 8-of-9 (88.9 percent) at the charity stripe, while the Seahawks scored 26 times on their 35 attempts equating to 74.3 percent.
 
Senior guard Darian Anderson led all scorers with 21 points to go along with four assists, three steals and a pair of rebounds. Anderson also passed Sean Baptiste (2007-10) for eighth all-time on the Knights' scoring list and now has 1,521 career points.
 
Wagner senior guard JoJo Cooper paced four Seahawks to score in double figures with 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while redshirt junior forward AJ Sumbry scored 12 with eight rebounds and four blocked shots in the win as the Seahawks improved to 8-0 at home this season.
 
Herenda Postgame: "That was a hard-fought conference game and we just never got into a good offensive rhythm. We should have gone into the half with a significant lead but we made a few crucial turnovers that really hurt us. I really like the way we guarded the basketball today but we somehow sent them to the line an extraordinary amount of times and that was just too difficult for us to overcome. I am still very proud of my team -- we opened with three out of four conference games on the road and eight of nine overall on the road and we are 2-2 in our conference."
 
Home Cooking: With the win over CCSU last Thursday, the Knights moved to 4-1 this season at home and are now averaging 89.8 points per game inside the Rothman Center. In addition to the offensive output, the Knights are shooting 52.7 percent and outscoring opponents by 21.8 points a game at home.
 
Last Meeting Notes: These teams met 13 days ago in LIU Brooklyn with FDU winning by 11. Greg Herenda moved to 5-0 in NEC openers with the victory. 
 
Holloway Leads the Way: In the Knights' NEC-opening win at LIU, Mike Holloway Jr. netted a career-high 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting. Twenty of Mike's 27 points came in the paint and the junior forward also grabbed nine rebounds in the win. The FDU big man garnered NEC Primetime Performer recognition by averaging 18.5 points and 8.5 rebounds on 60 percent shooting across opening weekend.
 
Protect the Rock: The Knights caused 15 turnovers in their win over LIU Brooklyn but the key was their ability to limit their own turnovers to just four. The four miscues is the fewest by the team in a game since 3/2/16 and fewest by any NEC team this season.
 
Record Book Update: Anderson continues his ascent up the FDU men's basketball record books and currently sits 20 points away from sole possession of seventh overall on the team's all-time scoring list. He moved to eighth in the team's loss at Wagner last time out. In addition to his 1,521 points, he has 535 made field goals (7^th), 169 three-pointers (3^rd), 200 steals (2nd), and 349 assists (7^th). He is the first-ever Knight to score 1,500 points and dish out 300 assists.
 
Turn Them Over: The Knights have relied on their ability to turn over the opponent this season. They have forced a turnover on 25.5 percent of their possessions and recorded a steal on 13.5 percent of possessions in NEC play, both league-leading figures by a wide margin. The Knights also boast a +9.0 turnover margin through four NEC games and are +3.0 on the season. Anderson is 40th nationally in steal percentage (4.0 percent).
 
Give Us That: Featuring one of the program's most adept defenders in Anderson, the Knights added a slew of speedy counterparts this season including freshman guard Jahlil Jenkins. Jenkins nabbed five steals against Princeton, while junior guard Darnell Edge totaled seven against Kean, which has helped the Knights to a 9.2 steals per game average this season -- 12th best in the NCAA.
 
Next Up: The Knights are home again this Saturday as they welcome the first-place Robert Morris Colonials to the Rothman Center at 4:30 p.m.