HACKENSACK, N.J. – Senior guard Darnell Edge registered his 1,000^th career point but the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team fell to NJIT 90-80 at the Rothman Center on Saturday night.
 
Edge, who netted the milestone point on one of his signature step-back jump shots, finished with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting in the loss. By eclipsing the 1,000-point mark, Edge became just the 28^th Knight to accomplish the feat, joining teammate Mike Holloway Jr., who reached the mark last season.
 
Three Knights joined Edge in double figures as sophomore guard Jahlil Jenkins finished with 16 points, five assists and three rebounds, while junior forward Kaleb Bishop scored a season-high 16 points with six rebounds and three blocks. For the second straight outing, senior Mike Holloway Jr. finished with 10 points.
 
The Highlanders (11-2), who have now won four straight, were led by Zach Cooks' 25-point, seven-rebound effort and Abdul Lewis, who recorded a double-double for the road team by totaling 20 points and 12 rebounds in the victory.
 
The free throw line proved vital for NJIT as they connected on 31-of-35 (88.6 percent) at the charity stripe. The Highlanders also outrebounded the Burgundy and Blue 38-25 and shot 50 percent overall.
 
The Knights (4-5) hit 46.6 percent from the field but were unable to overcome a 14-7 disparity in second-chance points and a 14-point gap at the free throw line.
 
"Hats off to NJIT – they are playing great basketball right now," head coach Greg Herenda said after the game. "They are a very good Atlantic Sun team that we battled but we have nothing to be ashamed of tonight. We just were never able to get into any kind of defensive rhythm tonight and we literally lost the game at the foul line. We had more field goals and assists and the same amount of 3-pointers but lost by 10."
 
Each team converted nine shots from behind the arc, while the Knights dished out 16 assists compared to 12 by the Highlanders and made two more field goals.
 
Herenda concluded, "When the dust settles, Darnell Edge goes into the record books and there is no one that deserves that more than Darnell. I know that he wanted the win more than anything tonight but nonetheless, he will be recognized for his achievement."
 
Trailing 18-14 in the early going, the Knights rattled off seven straight points highlighted by Bishop's hot start and eventually established a 25-19 lead – their largest of the half. Bishop had his best offensive outing of the season and notched his season-high point total of 12 points prior to the third media timeout.  
 
The neck-and-neck battle saw the teams encounter six lead changes in the stanza before NJIT carried a 40-37 edge into halftime.
 
Bishop led all players at the break with 12 points and five rebounds, while Jenkins and Edge each tallied seven.
 
Both teams shot the ball well from the floor as the Knights registered a 44.4 percent clip (12-of-27) and the Highlanders posted a 44.8 percent (13-of-29) effort through 20 minutes of action.
 
The Highlanders scored the first five points out of the locker room including a three-point play by Lewis. After Edge splashed a baseline jumper, the road team buried back-to-back 3-pointers to establish their first double-digit lead of the game, 51-41, with 17 minutes to go.
 
The Knights chipped away but failed to convert multiple chances to get within two possessions as the Highlanders answered with a 7-0 spurt to build their largest cushion of the game, 16 points, with 2:03 remaining.
 
Full-court pressure by the Burgundy and Blue resulted in a pair of NJIT turnovers in the last two minutes but the home team was unable to get closer than eight points before the final horn sounded.
 
Next up for FDU is a home date against Saint Peter's this Wednesday, December 19 at 7:00 p.m.