Game 22
Fairleigh Dickinson (7-14, 4-6 NEC) at Saint Francis U (12-9, 6-4 NEC)
Date: Thursday, February 1, 2018
Time: 6:05 p.m.
Location: DeGol Arena - Loretto, Pa.
Coverage: CBS Sports Network
Talent: Dave Popkin, Tim Capstraw and Paul Dottino

The Knights battle Saint Francis U in the first of two meetings between the teams this Thursday night in Loretto. The game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.

Game Notes: FDU  | SFU

The Series...FDU leads 45-43
at SFU...14-31
Last Five...4-1
Streak... L1
Last Meeting...FDU 64, SFU 70 (2/25/17 at SFU)
Opening Tip: The Knights are coming off of an 11-point win at Bryant as they take on the Red Flash in the second of three straight road contests.

<> The Knights enter the contest just 2-10 on the road this season with both wins coming in NEC play, while the Red Flash are 7-2 inside DeGol Arena.

<> In nine of 10 NEC games this season, the Knights have logged four or more scorers in double figures.

<> With the absence of star guard Darian Anderson, the Knights have turned to their underclassmen to help Darnell Edge and Mike Holloway shoulder some of the scoring load. Most recently, Jahlil Jenkins, Elyjah Williams and Kaleb Bishop have stepped up with career-best performances.

<> Edge garnered NEC Primetime Performer attention after averaging 19.5 ppg on 50.0% shooting from the floor and 42.9% from long distance last week.

<> The NEC preseason favorite Red Flash won four of their first five in conference play but are 2-3 since. Junior Scott Meredith's 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds remaining led the Red Flash to a 72-71 win over Sacred Heart last time out.

<> Featuring the NEC's top-scoring offense (80.5 ppg), the Red Flash are led by junior guard Jamaal King's 17.6 ppg. King is also averaging 21 ppg in NEC games this season. The team's 80.5 ppg is 47^th best in the NCAA. The team's 77.6 FT% is 12^th in the country, while its 47.3 FG% ranks 57^th.
 

Knights vs Red Flash
Last Five Meetings:
2/25/17: FDU 64, SFU 70 (at SFU)
12/29/16: FDU 77, SFU 65 (at FDU)
3/2/16: FDU 74, SFU 72 (at FDU)
1/28/16: FDU 86, SFU 82 - OT (at FDU)
1/14/16: FDU 71, SFU 59 (at SFU)

Last Meeting Recap: 

In last year's regular-season finale, the Red Flash held off the Knights for six-point victory in Loretto Darnell Edge led the Knights with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting and nabbed four steals, while Darian Anderson scored 18 and tallied a game-high seven assists to go along with four rebounds and three steals. The Knights led by eight with 8:39 to play but a six-plus minute scoreless drought allowed the Red Flash to erase the deficit and capture the lead and the win. Isaiah Blackmon paced the Red Flash with 20 points, while Jamaal King had 16 and Josh Nebo double-doubled with 11 points and 12 rebounds. SFU out-rebounded the Knights 46-34 in the win.

Knights Last Time Out
Freshman forward Elyjah Williams delivered his best game as a Knight to propel the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team over Bryant 89-78 at the Chace Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.

Williams recorded his first collegiate double-double and enjoyed a full stat line of 16 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks in the victory. Starting in place of classmate Noah Morgan, the Evanston, Illinois native made his first start since November 26 and connected on all seven of his field goal attempts as the Knights shot 45.9 percent (28-of-61) as a team.

Five Knights scored in double figures led by junior guard Darnell Edge's 21 points. Edge drained a career-high five 3-pointers on 10 tries in the win. Freshman guard Jahlil Jenkins also notched his career-best with 20 points to go along with six assists and five boards, Holloway Jr. had 16 points and eight rebounds and sophomore forward Kaleb Bishop tallied 13 points and grabbed six caroms.

The Knights led 36-35 at the break and a 3-pointer in the second half by Jenkins set off a 10-2 spurt -- which included a long 3-pointer by Edge that made it a 71-64 game -- and the Knights would hold off the Bulldogs over the final five minutes.

Herenda Postgame:
"That may quietly have been one of the best road wins that we've had here in my five years as a head coach.  We just played poorly on Thursday night and were down in numbers and we had two freshmen step up in a very big way. The first play of the game dictated the contest -- Elyjah was obviously ready for his opportunity to start."

"I thought we guarded well throughout except for letting Johnson go crazy in the first half. After the freshmen got us going, then Darnell opened things up from deep and Mike and Kaleb dominated in the paint. That was a great way to start this road swing and now we just have to continue to improve and keep this formula for finishing games."

Next Up: The Knights remain out in Western Pennsylvania to take on Robert Morris this Saturday, February 3. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.