HACKENSACK, N.J. – For the second time in the last three games, five Knights scored in double figures as the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team defeated Saint Peter's 83-74 at the Rothman Center on Wednesday night.
Fresh off of recording his 1,000
th-career point, senior guard
Darnell Edge kept it rolling with a team-high 21 points, while sophomore
Xzavier Malone-Key chipped in 18 points with four steals and two boards.
Sophomore point guard
Jahlil Jenkins filled up the stat sheet for the second straight outing by scoring 12 points with six assists, four rebounds and four steals in the victory.
Joining the trio in double figures were
Mike Holloway Jr. with 13 points, four rebounds and three blocked shots and
Kaleb Bishop, who finished with 10 points and four boards.
Saint Peter's (2-9) senior guard Davauhnte Turner led all scorers with 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting and added four assists and four rebounds to his ledger in the loss.
The Knights (5-5) led by as many as 23 points and forced 22 turnovers with 13 steals in the contest. The Burgundy and Blue also shot 50 percent from the field and took care of business at the free throw line by converting 29-of-34 (85.3 percent) in the win.
"That was a really hard game for me personally," said head coach
Greg Herenda following his team's win. "Shaheen [Holloway] means so much to me and we are so close. His team is really banged up and we were fortunate to play them when we did but give our guys credit – we were ready."
On the play of his backcourt, Herenda said, "Darnell, Xzavier and Jahlil were very good against a very physical Saint Peter's team. We were ready to really turn it on and we got sloppy and didn't finish the way we would have liked."
The Knights raced out to a 15-3 lead in the first five minutes highlighted by a two-handed slam by Holloway.
Saint Peter's would cut the deficit back to single-digits before the Knights regained control and eventually established a 15-point lead, 36-21, with three minutes to play in the half.
The defense was the key for the home team as they forced the Peacocks to commit 14 first-half turnovers, which led to 14 points at the other end of the floor. Malone-Key nabbed three steals in the first 20 minutes and led all scorers with 11 points as the Knights held a 40-25 advantage at intermission.
In the opening half, Edge, Holloway and Jenkins each scored seven for FDU, who shot 46.7 percent overall and connected on five 3-pointers. Turner and teammate Dallas Watson each tallied seven points in the stanza to pace the Peacocks.
Out of the locker room, the Knights picked up right where they left off as they forced a turnover, which led to a corner 3-pointer by Malone-Key. The momentum continued as the home team scored 11 of the first 14 points in the half to establish their largest cushion of the night, 51-28, with 15:41 to go.
Trailing by 17, a 9-2 run by the Peacocks brought them to within 10, 68-58, with just under six to go before Jenkins finished a reverse layup to temporarily quell the momentum.
With Turner leading the charge, the Peacocks closed to within single digits, 70-61, for the first time since midway through the opening half.
Over the final three minutes, the Knights maintained a lead between eight and 12 points as they knocked down their free throws and held on for the victory.
The 29 made free throws by the Knights are the most in a game since December 3, 2014 when they converted 31 from the charity stripe.
Herenda concluded, "I am very proud of how we have handled our exam week and prepared for tonight. This team has a ways to go but we are growing up each and every game. Now we are off to UMass to play a very potent A-10 team. We need to get some rest and get on the bus."
The Knights close out non-conference play with a pair of road games beginning this Friday, December 21 at UMass. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m.
