TAMPA, Fla. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team rallied from 17 points down but ultimately could not pull out the victory, falling 60-54 to South Florida at the Yuengling Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Knights (5-7) erased a 10-point halftime deficit and held a one-point lead with under four minutes to play but the Bulls (10-2) managed to escape with their sixth win in a row.
 
Trailing 54-52 with 1:25 to play, senior guard Darnell Edge leaned in and banked home a jump shot to tie the game, however, it would result in the Knights' final bucket of the afternoon.
 
With 25 ticks remaining, Edge appeared to put the Knights in front but his basket was waived off as Jahlil Jenkins was charged with an illegal screen, which gave the Bulls possession. Down by two with 12 seconds to go, Edge earned a clean look from a step beyond the NBA 3-point line but it was off the mark and the Bulls closed the game out at the free throw line.
 
Edge finished with 13 points, two rebounds and two assists, while junior forward Kaleb Bishop also netted 13 to go along with eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Xzavier Malone-Key and Mike Holloway Jr. scored 10 apiece in the loss as the Knights totaled four players in double figures for the ninth time this season.
 
Bishop, who was at the forefront of a game-changing 15-0 FDU run in the second half, made all five of his field goal attempts after intermission, including three trifectas.
 
Reigning American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week, Alexis Yetna spearheaded the Bulls' 47-27 advantage on the glass by grabbing 16 rebounds to go along with 16 points in the win.
 
In addition to the rebounding differential, the Burgundy and Blue were unable to overcome the large disparity at the free throw line as they took just five free throws compared to the Bulls' 30 attempts.
 
After shooting 27 percent in the first half, the Knights found the touch in the second, connecting on 54.2 percent.

"This team has grown up so much over the last two weeks and it hurts because we don't have the wins to prove it," said head coach Greg Herenda after the game. "We had leads late in A-10 and American Conference arenas but have just come a few key possessions short. Now it's time to get some rest and get ready for the NEC battles ahead. We somehow have four of our first five on the road but we have shown historically that we are a very good road team in our conference. At the end of the day, I am just proud to coach this group -- they leave everything on the floor."
 
The Knights missed their first nine shots of the game, thanks to the stifling USF defense, which blocked four shots over that span and the Bulls led 10-0 at the first media timeout. Jenkins finally ended the scoreless drought for FDU when he knocked down a corner 3-pointer at the 14:06 mark.
 
The cold shooting continued for the Burgundy and Blue, who started 3-of-15 and trailed 20-8 midway through the half. Meanwhile, the Bulls connected on seven of their first 10 from the floor and recorded 10 second-chance points.
 
After trailing by as many as 17 points, the Knights weathered the storm and entered the locker room down by 10, 33-23.
 
Jenkins paced the Knights in the half with eight points, while Malone-Key scored six. The Knights were limited to 9-of-33 (27.3 percent) from the field and were outrebounded 27-14 by the Bulls, who shot 48.1 percent across the first 20 minutes.
 
Yetna was on his way to a double-double by tallying eight points and eight boards to go along with a pair of blocks as the Bulls swatted seven shots in the stanza.
 
A pair of triples by Bishop sandwiched around a tough jumper by Edge highlighted a 15-0 run by the Knights, who captured their first lead of the game, 46-43, with 8:30 to play. Bishop was a force at both ends of the floor as he swatted away a pair of USF attempts and connected on the two 3-pointers over the course of the game-changing run.
 
The game remained tight until the final minute but the Bulls netted the final six points to seal the win.
 
The Knights open 2019 with Northeast Conference action beginning next Thursday, January 3 at Robert Morris.