Game 28
Fairleigh Dickinson (11-16, 8-8 NEC) vs Saint Francis U Red Flash (16-11, 10-6 NEC)
Date: Thursday, February 22, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Rothman Center
Coverage: NEC Front Row

The Knights welcome Saint Francis U to the Rothman Center on Saturday with the two teams jockeying for playoff seeding in the Northeast Conference Tournament. 

The Series...FDU leads the series 45-44
at FDU..FDU 31, SFU 13
Last Five...FDU 3, SFBK 2
Streak... L2
Last Meeting...FDU 60, Saint Francis U  74 (2/1/18 at SFU)
Opening Tip: With two games to go in the NEC regular season, the Knights will fight for the opportunity to host a postseason game as they close out the season with SFU and Bryant.
<> Entering tonight's game, the Knights are tied with LIU Brooklyn for seventh in the NEC and two-games back of a fourth-seed. SFU is part of a three-team tie for the No. 2 seed along with St. Francis Brooklyn and Mount.
<> The Knights are coming off a 1-1 week with a win at Mount and a loss at St. Francis Brooklyn. SFU has won three straight including an 89-56 rout of Bryant last time out.
<> Last Thursday, Mike Holloway Jr. scored 23 points with nine rebounds and became the 27th Knight to eclipse the 1,000 career-point mark.
<> Junior guard Darnell Edge enters Saturday's contest second in the nation 93.4 percent on the season. just 0.1 behind the leader Marquette's Markus Howard. Edge has only missed two free throws in conference play (48-of-50).
<> FDU is 7-4 at the Rothman Center this season, while the Red Flash are 6-9 away from DeGol Arena.
<> The Knights are third in the NEC in free throw percentage, blocked shots and field goal defense, while SFU enters the game conference's top offensive team at 79.4 ppg and 46.8 percent from the field.
<> SFU is led by senior guard Jamaal King's180 points a game, while Preseason All-NEC selection Keith Braxton scores 16.7 points per game and grabs 9.7 rebounds.

Knights vs Red Flash
Last Five Meetings:
2/1/18: FDU 60, SFU 74 (at SFU)
2/25/17: FDU 64, SFU 70 (at SFU)
12/29/16: FDU 77, SFU 65 (at FDU)
3/2/16: FDU 74, SFU 72 (at FDU)
1/28/16: FDU 86, SFU 82 - OT (at FDU)

Last Meeting Recap: 
Sophomore forward Kaleb Bishop matched his career-high with 18 points but the Knights fell 74-60 at DeGol Arena. Bishop converted 9-of-12 from the field and grabbed nine rebounds in the loss as the Knightsfailed to log four scorers in double figures for just the second time in NEC play. Saint Francis U featured five in double figures led by sophomore guard Keith Braxton, who logged a rare triple-double with 12 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Junior guard Jamaal King and freshman center Mark Flagg topped the scoresheet for SFU with 17 points apiece. With Bishop leading the charge, the Knights used a 12-2 run to erase a double-digit deficit and claw to within two points with 4:32 to go. However, Bishop's layup would be the Knights' final bucket of the night as they missed their final six shots of the game and SFU netted 13 of the game's final 14 points to secure the win. The Knights shot 36.6 percent for the game and managed just 2-of-19 (10.5 percent) from behind the arc, while the Red Flash knocked down 8-of-14 from deep and 50.0 percent overall. Despite a 46-36 edge in points in the paint and 19-7 advantage in second-chance points, the Burgundy & Blue were unable to overcome an off-shooting night.

Knights Last Time Out
Fairleigh Dickinson saw its four-game win streak come to an end as they fell 87-74 to St. Francis Brooklyn at the Pope P.E. Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Knights shot 49.1 percent from the field but were unable to overcome 16 turnovers, which led to 17 points for the Terriers (13-15, 10-6 NEC). In addition, the Knights were just 2-of-11 from behind the arc in the second half and finished 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) for the game.

Freshman guard Jahlil Jenkins led the Knights with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting but failed to record an assist for just the second time in his young career. Jenkins' backcourt mate Darnell Edge scored 17, while Noah Morgan scored 12 with six rebounds and Kaleb Bishop had 11 points and eight boards.

St. Francis sophomore guard Rasheem Dunn led all scorers with 21 points on 5-of-17 shooting but did most of his work at the free throw line where he connected on 10-of-12 attempts. As a team, the Terriers shot 27-of-34 (79.4 percent) at the line and 26-of-56 overall (46.4 percent).  Led by Darelle Porter's 15 rebounds, the Terriers out-rebounded the Knights 33 to 29 in the contest including 13-9 on the offensive boards.

Herenda Postgame:

"Hats off to St. Francis -- they really guard you hard and have terrific offensive threats that stretch the court. We were just not good enough defensively today to beat a good team in a difficult building. It's hard to fathom that we only have two conference games left and thankfully we are at home."

"We have reached our primary goal of getting into our conference tournament. Now we have to go home and take one game at a time and get the best seed possible."

Next Up: The Knights close out the regular season with Senior Day this Saturday, February 24 against Bryant at 4:30 p.m. Prior to tip-off seniors Darian Anderson and Mike Schroback will be honored.