HACKENSACK, N.J. –  The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team was unable to hold off a second-half surge by the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds on Thursday night, falling 90-85 at the Rothman Center.
 
After leading by six at the break, the Knights sent the Blackbirds to the free throw line 36 times in the second half and were outscored 52-41 across those final 20 minutes.
 
Junior forward Mike Holloway Jr. paced the Knights (5-11, 2-3 NEC) in the loss and notched his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Holloway did his damage in 30 minutes of action and scored 11 straight points for the Knights in the second half before picking up his fifth foul with 4:29 to play.
 
In the second meeting between the two teams in 13 days, four Knights scored in double figures with freshman forward Noah Morgan and freshman guard Jahlil Jenkins accounting for 16 apiece and senior guard Darian Anderson scoring 15. Anderson added five assists and three rebounds to his ledger on the night.
 
The Blackbirds (7-11, 2-3 NEC) were led as usual by the duo of Raiquan Clark and Joel Hernandez – who entered the game averaging a combined 36 points per contest. Clark, a junior swingman registered a 21-point, 10-rebound performance, while Hernandez scored a game-high 22 on 8-of-16 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.
 
Clark's 10 rebounds helped the Blackbirds out-rebound the Knights 41-30 in total and 25-13 in the second half.
 
The Knights shot 50.8 percent for the game and drained 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) from behind the arc but were unable to overcome the 39-20 disparity at the charity stripe and 14 second-chance points by the Blackbirds.
 
After the loss, head coach Greg Herenda said, "It's hard to beat a team twice within two weeks but that was our objective tonight and we could not execute that goal. LIU has a very talented and tough team and in the second half we just could not stop them -- and when we did -- we just couldn't come up with the ball off of the backboard or off of the floor."
 
"The great thing about this league is that we play in less than 50 hours. Hopefully, we'll have a big crowd and finish the game better on Saturday."
 
Highlighted by a monster jam from Kaleb Bishop, who soared over the Blackbirds for the two points, the Knights jumped out to a 21-8 lead in the first seven minutes. Bishop finished with nine points and five rebounds on the night. The Knights connected on 3-of-4 from downtown over that early stretch, which included a four-point play by Morgan.
 
The Blackbirds responded with a 16-4 spurt to get back in the game, which featured 3-pointers by Raul Frias and Jamall Robinson. Sophomore guard Darnell Edge ended the run with four straight tallies for FDU, who rebuilt its lead to nine, 33-24, after Pat McNamara buried a trifecta with 5:03 to play.
 
Despite allowing the Blackbirds to shoot 51.6 percent from the field, the Knights entered halftime with a 44-38 lead. A fast-paced first half saw the Knights tally 10 fast-break points, while the Blackbirds netted eight. Thirteen of the Knights' first-half total came off of turnovers as they forced nine LIU miscues in the opening stanza.
 
Over the first 20 minutes, the Knights connected on 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) from behind the arc and shot 48.6 percent overall. The key was their ability to out-rebound the Blackbirds 17-16 on the glass including six offensive boards. Anderson paced the Burgundy & Blue attack with a game-high 11 points at the break with three rebounds and three assists.
 
The Blackbirds' scoresheet was topped by Jashaun Agosto, who scored 10 in the half and dished out three helpers. Agosto finished with 17 points and six assists on the night.
 
Each team connected on a pair from downtown over the first five minutes of the second half, with Morgan delivering two for the Knights.
 
The Knights maintained a lead between six and eight points until a 3-pointer by Julius Van Sauers cut the lead to 62-59 with 11 minutes to play. Van Sauers' trifecta was part of nine straight points by the Blackbirds, which gave them their first lead since the early going, 63-62, with under 10 to go.
 
Holloway Jr. single-handedly kept the Knights afloat by scoring 11 straight, including a pair of crowd-pleasing dunks but was called his fifth personal foul with just under five minutes to play and the Knights trailing 73-71.
 
The Blackbirds nabbed their largest lead of the game, 81-73, after a bucket in the paint by Hernandez, however, Anderson immediately responded with a layup and – following a free throw by LIU -- Jenkins knocked down a 3-pointer to make it an 82-78 game with two minutes to play.
 
With Holloway and Anderson fouled out, Jenkins took the reins and finished a three-point play on the Knights' next possession to cut it two, 83-81.
 
The Blackbirds responded with four straight points – including a putback off of an offensive carom by Clark to stretch the lead back to two possessions and they would close the game out at the line.
 
The Knights return to action this Saturday, January 13 when they square off with Robert Morris at 4:30 p.m. at the Rothman Center. Saturday's game will feature a performance by the Park Ridge Band, as well as, a ceremony to honor the 1997-98 NEC Champion FDU men's basketball team.