HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team is back home at the Rothman Center this Sunday, November 25 to host Lafayette.
Game 5
Fairleigh Dickinson (3-1, 0-0 NEC)
vs. Lafayette (1-3, 0-0 Patriot)
Date: Sunday, November 25
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Location: Rothman Center (Hackensack, N.J.)
Coverage: NEC Front Row | Live Stats
The Series
All-Time Series...4-4
at FDU...2-2
Knights Last Five...1-3
Knights Streak...W1
First Meeting..FDU 98, Lafayette 92 (11/16/07)
Last Meeting..FDU 91, Lafayette 89 - OT (12/9/15)
Opening Tip
- The Knights have won three straight and are off to their best start in the Greg Herenda era.
- Last time out, the team earned the program's first-ever win at Jadwin Gym and improved to 2-3 all-time against Princeton
- In Wednesday's win, Darnell Edge poured in a career-high 28 points with eight rebounds, while playing all 40 minutes. Xzavier Malone-Key also logged his career high with 19 second-half points, including five 3-pointers.
- Prior to tip-off of Sunday's contest, the Knights will present Edge with his 2017-18 NCAA Free-Throw Percentage Champion plaque.
- The NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll selected the Burgundy & Blue to finish second this season with one first-place vote. Mike Holloway Jr. was named Preseason All-NEC at this year's NEC Media Day.
The Coaches
- Head Coach Greg Herenda is in his sixth season at the helm of the Knights and improved to 6-0 in home openers with Wednesday's win over Queens. Last season, the Knights enjoyed their third consecutive .500 or better season in NEC play as Herenda led the team to a 9-9 conference mark. Under Herenda, the Knights have qualified for the NEC Tournament in four of his five seasons.
- Fran O'Hanlon is in his 24th season as the head coach of the Lafayette basketball program. He is the longest tenured coach in the Patriot League, has won four conference titles and owns three NCAA Tournament appearances, including both feats in 2014-15. O'Hanlon's record at LU is 314-378. Head coach Fran O'Hanlon holds the Patriot League records for overall (692) and league (333) games coached. With the win over Holy Cross on Feb. 19, 2014, O'Hanlon set the all-time conference wins mark of 127 and passed former Bucknell head coach Pat Flannery. Coach 'O' currently sits at 152 Patriot League victories.
The Teams
- FDU has won three straight including an 11-point win at Jadwin Gym over Princeton last time out. The Knights have recorded eight or more steals in each game this season and a minimum of 14 turnovers. The team's 3-1 start is the best in Herenda's tenure. At 65.2 points allowed per game, the Knights currently lead the NEC in both defense and field-goal defense (41.1%). In addition, their 10.7 scoring margin is also tops in the conference.
- The Leopards are coming off of a 12-point loss to NEC's St. Francis Brooklyn in the home opener at Kirby Sports Center on Nov. 18, 84-72. Lafayette has been efficient shooting the basketball with a free-throw percentage of 80.3%, a three-point field-goal percentage at 41.5 percent and overall field-goal percentage of 45.6 percent. Sophomore guard Justin Jaworski has been the go-to-guy for Lafayette this season and leads the team with 16 points per game. Jaworski is at the forefront of the Leopards' efficiency as he has converted all 14 of his free-throw attempts and connected on 14-of-28 (50%) from three-point range.
Knights Last Time Out
Led by a career-high 28 points from senior guard Darnell Edge, the Knights topped Princeton 77-66 at Jadwin Gymnasium on Wednesday night.
Edge played all 40 minutes and finished 8-of-13 from the field -- including 4-of-6 from three-point range -- while adding a career-best eight rebounds with two steals in the win. Xzavier Malone-Key had his best game as a Knight and buried five, second-half 3-pointers to help the Knights secure the win. Malone-Key also notched his career high with 19 points – all coming in the second half. Jenkins filled up the box score with 14 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals, while Kaleb Bishop scored 11 with eight boards in the victory.
Trailing 56-52 with 9:12 to play in regulation, the Knights rattled off an 18-4 run, which was spearheaded by Malone-Key's three-point prowess.
After the Tigers (1-2) knocked down 7-of-12 (58.3%) from three-point range in the first half, the Knights (3-1) held them to 0-for-9 from behind the arc over the final 20 minutes.
Coach Herenda's Thoughts
"Our number one priority this spring, summer and fall has been our half-court defense and tonight we reaped the rewards. Every player in a blue jersey committed to guarding and ultimately that is how we walked out of here with a huge win. Offensively, the three amigos were really fun to coach and to watch in the second half. Darnell was spectacular the entire game but Xzavier's start to the second half opened it up for everyone. Eventually, our bigs will play the way that they are capable of and then this team will get to the next level."
"To win in this historic gym is special and our guys really deserved it. It is a great way to go into Thanksgiving weekend. We have a great deal to be thankful for but we still have a lot of improvement ahead of us."
Next Up
The Knights travel to Providence College to square off with the Friars on Tuesday, November 27. Tuesday's game will air on FOX Sports 1 and is set to tip-off at 8:30 p.m.
