Game 15
Fairleigh Dickinson (5-9, 2-1 NEC) at Wagner (9-5, 2-1 NEC)
Date: Saturday, January 6, 2018
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Location: Spiro Sports Center – Staten Island, N.Y.
Coverage: NEC Front Row
Live Stats

The Knights return to the road on Saturday in a matchup of 2-1 NEC teams as they square off against Wagner at the Spiro Sports Center.
 
The Series... Wagner leads the series 54-52
at Wagner…22-28
Streak...L2
Last Meeting...FDU 70, Wagner 72 (3/1/17 at Wagner - NEC QF)
 
Knights of Late: After splitting the opening weekend of NEC action, the Knights returned home for the first time since November 26 and picked up an 81-77 win over CCSU. The Knights continued their defensive prowess in turning over the Blue Devils 22 times and moved to 4-1 at home this season. FDU ranks 11th in the nation with 9.4 steals per game. Four Knights are scoring in double figures across three NEC games led by Mike Holloway Jr.'s 16 per game. Holloway and reigning NEC Rookie of the Week Noah Morgan are shooting 56.3 percent and 53.6 percent, respectively in NEC games this season. The Knights boast a +10.7 turnover margin in those three games with Darian Anderson's nine thefts leading the way.
 
Scouting Wagner: The Seahawks posted a 7-4 non-conference record and are 2-1 in NEC play after defeating Sacred Heart 69-63 on Thursday at Spiro. They continue to thrive in their home building where they are 7-0 on the season, including victories over Fairfield and American. In the win over Sacred Heart, redshirt junior Romone Saunders scored a career-high 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting and nabbed nine boards. Like the Knights, four Seahawks average double figures in points in NEC play led by Blake Francis' 18 per game. On the season, Francis propels the Wagner offense with 19.1 ppg, while point guard JoJo Cooper averages 12.9 points and leads the NEC with 5.9 assists per contest.  The Seahawks enter Saturday's game as the NEC's top field goal defensive team holding foes to 40% and are first in shot blocking with 64 on the season.
 
Knights Last Time Out:
The Knights opened 2018 with a victory by topping Central Connecticut State 81-77 at the Rothman Center on Thursday night.  Reigning Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week Noah Morgan led the charge for the Knights (5-9, 2-1 NEC), who improve to 4-1 inside the Rothman this season. Morgan poured in a team-high 21 points on 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) shooting and grabbed six rebounds, nabbed two steals and blocked a shot in the victory.
 
Fellow freshman Jahlil Jenkins enjoyed a full stat line with 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals, while senior guard Darian Anderson scored 14 with five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
 
Playing their first game at the Rothman Center since November 26, the Knights were down by 12 in the second half before a 19-6 run, which spanned nearly ten minutes, put them in front by one and they never trailed again.
 
Defensive pressure was the key again for FDU, who entered the game 14th in the nation in forcing turnovers and did not disappoint on Thursday. The Knights turned the Blue Devils over 22 times, while committing just seven miscues of their own. In addition, the Knights upped their 9.1 steals per game rate by grabbing 13 in the win.
 
Herenda Postgame:
"We just found a way to hang around tonight and somehow we found a way to come away with a win. My guys never ever give up -- they just keep on competing and that's why I love these guys. The key to tonight was that we won the turnover battle and had 13 steals. We just need to be more solid defensively but Central has a number of really good offensive options." 
 
"At the end of the day, we won a hard-fought home game and our last home game was well over a month ago. Now we are onto Wagner"
 
Rookies of the Week: Freshman forward Noah Morgan earned NEC Rookie of the Week honors on Tuesday after averaging 11.5 points and 6.5 rebounds through the first weekend of conference play. Across the two games, Morgan shot 50.0 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from downtown and 83.3 percent from the line. The Mount Vernon native continues to thrive and led the Knights with 21 points in Thursday's win over CCSU. Morgan joins teammate Jahlil Jenkins, who won the award in December, as the only two FDU teammates to ever garner Rookie of the Week accolades in the same season.
 
Last Meeting: Over the past two seasons, these two teams have met in the NEC Tournament and played thrilling games. The Knights captured the 2016 NEC Championship at Spiro but were knocked out last season in the quarterfinals in the same building. Last season's game came down to the wire as Darian Anderson's game-winning three-point try from the corner rimmed out as time expired. Anderson scored 19 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in the game.
 
Where's Winston? Current Wagner assistant coach Winston Smith joined the Seahawks this offseason after two stints with the Knights (2001-03) and (2015-17). He also logged two seasons on the staff at Saint Francis U of the NEC.
 
Home Cooking: With the win over CCSU, the Knights moved to 4-1 this season at home and are now averaging 89.8 per games inside the Rothman Center.
 
Balanced Scoring: In nine of the Knights' 14 games four or more players have scored in double figures. Four Knights average double figures this season and Jenkins is just shy at 9.4 ppg. The team has logged five in double figures three different times this season including seven double-digit scorers against Kean.
 
NEC Openers: With Friday's win at LIU Brooklyn, Coach Greg Herenda improved to 5-0 in NEC openers since his arrival at FDU in 2013-14.
 
Next Up: The Knights return home for back-to-back games beginning with LIU Brooklyn at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 11.