HACKENSACK, N.J. – All five starters scored in double figures as the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team defeated Army West Point 93-84 at the Rothman Center on Wednesday night.
Senior guard
Darnell Edge led all scorers with 24 points and knocked down a career-high six 3-pointers on the night, while sophomore forward
Elyjah Williams enjoyed a career-high 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting to go along with eight boards and four blocks in the win.
Sophomore point guard
Jahlil Jenkins filled up the box score with 19 points, nine rebounds (career-high) and seven assists, while converting all seven of his free throw attempts.
Joining the trio in double figures were sophomore guard
Xzavier Malone-Key with 13 points, four rebounds and four helpers and senior forward
Mike Holloway Jr., who finished with 10 points and eight boards in the victory.
The Knights (4-4) shot 52.5 percent on the night including a 57 percent rate in the second half. In addition, the team buried 12 shots from long range for the third time this season and nabbed a season-high 12 steals.
For Army, junior forward Matt Wilson scored 21 with eight rebounds to lead the Black Knights (5-7), who shot 47 percent overall and 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from downtown in the loss.
"It is a privilege to play Army and it was an honor to win this game," said head coach
Greg Herenda following the win. "We have so much respect for those guys for so many reasons and tonight, Army just kept coming and coming. I give our kids so much credit for matching their runs with some big runs of our own. That was a great program win for our team and our university."
Herenda continued, "To again have five guys score in double figures and have 19 assists is a credit to our guys being unselfish and committed to team. Jahlil has so much heart -- to be the leading rebounder is amazing. You add Darnell and Xzavier to the equation and we have an exciting group. Very quietly, Mike Holloway got back to being Mike Holloway and
Elyjah Williams was immense tonight. All in all, that was a very solid win against a very well-coached, hard-playing Army team."
Army captured an early 8-3 lead before a putback slam by Williams sparked the FDU offense. Trailing 19-16, Edge drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game and the Knights went in front for good when Holloway flushed a feed from Jenkins.
Edge's 3-pointer set off a 14-0 run by the home team, who established a 33-19 lead with 8:40 to play in the half.
The Cadets would fight back and eventually evened the score at 40-40 after Josh Caldwell knocked down a trifecta at the 3:04 mark.
A pair of Edge free throws kick-started a 10-0 burst by the Knights, who carried a 50-42 lead into the locker room. Both teams were efficient at the offensive end in the opening half as Army made 51.6 percent of their shots including 7-of-10 from behind the arc, while the Knights hit on 48.5 percent of their attempts and 7-of-15 from downtown.
In the second half, the Knights re-established their double-digit advantage, 56-46 thanks to four straight points from Edge and maintained control for the duration.
The Knights' cushion grew to 16 – the largest of the night – when Edge drained a 3-pointer with 6:58 to play in regulation. An entertaining second half saw the home team convert three alley-oops,
including this highlight-reel slam by Williams, which brought the crowd to its feet.
Army fought hard down the stretch and clawed to within six, 90-84, after a Jordan Fox 3-pointer, however, the Knights regrouped and were able to make enough free throws to close out the win.
Next up for the Knights is a home date with NJIT (10-2) this Saturday, December 15 at 7:00 p.m.
