HACKENSACK, N.J. – In front of a raucous Rothman Center crowd, the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team delivered for its home fans by defeating first-place Wagner 76-69 on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Knights (10-15, 7-7 NEC), who led from the 16:35 point on, snapped the Seahawks' (18-7, 11-3 NEC) seven-game win streak, while extending their own streak to three straight victories.
 
Forward Mike Holloway Jr. tallied 23 points and seven boards on 10-of-16 shooting to top the Knights scoresheet. Junior guard Darnell Edge played a key role by scoring 20 of his 22 points in the second stanza and helped stave off several Wagner runs by draining four 3-pointers.

A relentless first-half defensive effort saw the Knights hold the Seahawks to just 18 first-half points on seven made baskets. The 18 points permitted are the fewest in a half this season by FDU.
 
At halftime, the Knights retired hall of famer Rich Conrad's No. 40 jersey to the rafters – just the second number to be retired in program history.
 
"That game was 100 percent for Richie Conrad and his family, his teammates and the Burgundy & Blue" said Greg Herenda following the win. "Our crowd was awesome and we needed it to beat a very good Wagner team."
 
"Mike Holloway was our leader in the first half. His presence alone was crucial and then he got it going offensively. I also cannot say enough about our three-guard offense (Jahlil, Darnell and Noah). They are gelling on both sides of the floor. They are a lot of fun to coach and I think the fans are starting to fall in love with them as well."
 
Herenda concluded, "Again, we just need to continue to improve each and every day. That is the only way we know how to do it here."
 
Romone Saunders led the Seahawks with 25 points, six rebounds and four assists on 9-of-22 shooting in the loss.
 
Behind a high-energy Rothman Center crowd donned in white-out for Wagner t-shirts, the Knights jumped out to a 12-3 lead just over five minutes into action. Holloway started his day 3-for-4 over that span with six points.
 
A 3-pointer by Holloway with five minutes to play in the stanza gave the Knights their first double-digit lead of the game and Noah Morgan promptly followed with another trey resulting in a 27-14 FDU edge.
 
Holloway led all scorers at the break as the Knights carried a 33-18 cushion into the locker room. With an intense defensive effort, the home team limited the Seahawks to just 7-of 37 (18.9 percent) in the opening stanza, while connecting on 15-of-29 (50.9 percent) of its own shots.
 
The FDU lead ballooned to 20, 38-18, after Morgan buried a 3-pointer just under two minutes into the half.
 
Trailing 44-24, the Seahawks rattled off a 9-0 spurt before Edge knocked down a corner 3-pointer to end the Knights' drought.
 
A long ball by Blake Francis with 12:34 cut the deficit to single-digits, 47-39, for the first time since the first half and forced a timeout by FDU. Francis, who finished with 16 in the contest, scored eight points as part of a 15-3 run by the Seahawks.
 
Out of the timeout, Edge attempted to single-handedly cool the Seahawks momentum by knocking down back-to-back treys and rebuilt the lead to 53-43 with 10 minutes to go. Edge scored nine straight for FDU – and 12 of their 15 points over a six-minute span – to keep the Seahawks from getting closer.
 
Despite Edge's hot shooting, the Seahawks kept coming as Francis connected twice from behind the arc to trim the lead down to four, 64-60, with under five to play.
 
Trailing by four with 1:06 to go after a long 3-pointer by Saunders, the Seahawks would not get any closer thanks to Edge, who knocked down eight straight from the line to help seal the victory.
 
With his 8-for-8 performance at the charity stripe, Edge extended his streak of made free throws to 43 and now boasts a 95.5 percent season rate -- tops in the NEC.
 
Freshman guard Jahlil Jenkins excited the crowd throughout the contest with his end-to-end speed and finished with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists, while classmate Noah Morgan joined Jenkins in double figures with 11 points and seven boards.
 
The Knights return to action next Thursday, February 15 when they take on Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Md.