HACKENSACK, N.J. – Six players scored in double figures as the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team rolled to an 87-48 victory over Queens College in its 2018-19 home opener at the Rothman Center on Wednesday night.
 
Senior guard Darnell Edge scored a game-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting with four rebounds in 27 minutes of action. Fellow senior captain, Mike Holloway Jr. finished with 15 points and five boards, while second-year point guard Jahlil Jenkins finished with 12 points and four assists in the victory.
 
The Knights (1-1) shot 57.9 percent from the field and forced 21 turnovers in the win, while limiting Queens to just 29.8 percent overall.

Following the victory, head coach Greg Herenda discussed his team's performance. "We got off to a sluggish start but our defensive pressure and our sharing of the ball in the second half really got us going. Give Queens credit -- they run their offense very well but we just guarded them hard for the entire 40 minutes."
 
The home Knights jumped out to a 16-2 lead with sophomore guard Tyler Jones spearheading the attack. The Lawrenceville, N.J. native scored a career-high eight points prior to the second media timeout, draining a pair of 3-pointers along the way. Jones would finish with 10 points in 13 minutes of court time.
 
With their lockdown defense forcing Queens into difficult shots, the Knights' cushion ballooned to 25 points, 37-12, with 2:04 to go in the opening half.
 
Dwayne Henry Jr. connected on three 3-pointers over the final four minutes of the half to pace Queens in the stanza. The Knights shot 50 percent from the floor in the half, held Queens to 31 percent, and carried a 38-22 lead into the locker room.
 
Over the first five minutes of the second half, the Knights scored the first nine points en route to a 25-3 run, which established a 63-25 advantage. Defense served as the catalyst as they consistently jumped into passing lanes and turned steals into fastbreak layups over the course of the burst.
 
With 13:57 to play, Holloway put a bow on the lopsided stretch with a two-handed slam via a drop-off feed from Jenkins.
 
The Knights captured their largest lead of the contest, 47 points, after Jenkins drained a pair of free throws with 6:42 to go to make it a 79-32 game.
 
Elijah Bovell paced Queens (0-3) with 12 points in the loss, while Evan Goldberg tallied five and added seven rebounds.
 
Ten of the 11 active players for Fairleigh Dickinson scored in the victory, including sophomore transfer Oscar Okeke, who netted his first basket as a Knight. Joining the aforementioned Knights in double figures were sophomores Elyjah Williams and Xzavier Malone-Key, who each finished with 10 points on a combined 10-of-14 from the field.

Herenda concluded, "Having six players in double figures and 18 assists is a great sign of just how potent our offense will eventually be."
 
The Knights return to action this Friday, November 16 when they host NYIT at 7:00 p.m.