HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team ran away with an 86-61 victory in their exhibition contest against Post University at the Rothman Center on Thursday night.
 
In their final tune-up of the preseason, the Knights posted four players in double-figures led by senior guard Darnell Edge, who scored 21 points on 5-of-11 shooting with nine rebounds and three assists. The reigning NCAA Free-Throw Percentage champion also converted all nine of his shots from the charity stripe.
 
Making his debut for the Knights, sophomore guard Xzavier Malone-Key poured in 16 points on 6-of-10 from the field to go along with four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Sophomore guard Jahlil Jenkins and senior forward Mike Holloway Jr. each tallied 13 points in the win.
 
Following the victory, Fairleigh Dickinson head coach Greg Herenda said, "Give Post tons of credit – they came in here and pressed us for 40 minutes and really sped us up but in the end we prevailed. We did so many good things tonight but obviously we still have some work to do."
 
Herenda continued, "I really like our commitment to half-court defense but obviously we really need to rebound the ball so much better going forward."
 
Midway through the opening half, the Knights had established a double-digit lead 23-13, after Edge cashed a three-pointer off of a feed from Jenkins.
 
The Burgundy and Blue eventually enhanced their edge to 17 points and carried a 47-30 advantage into the locker room.  Over the first 20 minutes of action, the Knights shot a blistering 69.6 percent from the floor (16-of-23), while limiting the Eagles to just 35 percent.
 
In the first four minutes of the second stanza, the home team increased its lead to 22 when Holloway nabbed a steal and finished off the break with a layup.
 
A high-flying, fastbreak dunk by Malone-Key established the Knights' largest cushion of the contest, 27 points, with 13:44 to play in regulation. The Philadelphia native corralled a loose ball deep in the backcourt, raced end-to-end and soared above the rim before throwing down a crowd-pleasing slam.
 
"Our three guards are really fun to coach," Herenda added. "They all can score and make plays in a myriad of ways and our bigs are terrific finishers. We are still very much a work in progress but I really love this team's ultimate upside."
 
In the loss, Post's Tyshon Rogers matched Edge with a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds.
 
The Eagles were held to just 2-for-22 from behind the arc in the contest and sent the Knights to the line 37 times.
 
The Knights officially tip-off the 2018-19 season next Friday, November 9 when they square off with Rutgers in Piscataway at 7:00 p.m.