HACKENSACK, N.J. – Behind five players in double figures, the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team earned an 85-57 victory over NYIT at the Rothman Center on Friday night.
 
Sophomore guard Jahlil Jenkins led all scorers with 17 points and enjoyed a full stat line, which included five assists, four steals and three rebounds. The balanced attack featured Darnell Edge score 16 and Xzavier Malone-Key finish with 15. The Knights' frontcourt of Mike Holloway Jr. and Kaleb Bishop finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Although he finished with just two points in the contest, sophomore forward Elyjah Williams nabbed 12 rebounds and dished out five assists in the victory.
 
Kieran Hamilton, Zahir Porter, and Marcus Saint-Furcy each scored 12 for NYIT (0-3) in the loss.
 
The Knights (2-1) forced 27 turnovers and limited the Bears to 34.7 percent overall from the field.
 
Offensively, the Burgundy and Blue shot 47.7 percent overall and connected on 7-of-17 from behind the arc (41.2 percent). Malone-Key especially had it working from downtown as he drained three of his four tries from three-point range.
 
"We had to compete on every possession to distance ourselves from a scrappy NYIT team tonight," said head coach Greg Herenda following his team's win. "What I like most about the way we are playing is our defensive consistency which is leading to great opportunities in our fastbreak."
 
With NYIT's 27 miscues tonight, the Knights have now forced 17 or more turnovers in each of their three outings this season.
 
The Knights led by 10 at the break, 40-30, after scoring the first eight points of the contest. Edge topped all scorers at intermission with eight points on 3-of-7 shooting.
 
A layup by Jenkins with 6:22 to play in regulation provided the Knights with their largest lead of the night, 33 points (78-45), before Porter answered with a 3-pointer. Porter's trifecta capped an 11-0 burst by the home team.
 
 "Jahlil really got us going in the second half – which then got Darnell and Xzavier involved as well. Once this group gets going offensively, we have a chance to be very dangerous." Herenda concluded, "Now we need to get ready to go on the road and play in another very tough environment within our state. Princeton is an extremely well-coached team with a ton of highly-skilled players and I hope our alumni, family and fans follow us down to cheer us on."
 
The Knights will take on the Tigers of Princeton at Jadwin Gymnasium next Wednesday, November 21 at 7:00 p.m.