HACKENSACK, N.J. – Behind a career-high 22 points from freshman point guard Jahlil Jenkins, the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team closed out the 2017-18 regular season on a high note, defeating Bryant 87-84 at the Rothman Center on Saturday.
 
Celebrating their two seniors – Darian Anderson and Mike Schroback – the Knights took care of business on their home floor and will enter next week's NEC Tournament on a winning note.
 
With the win, the Knights (12-17, 9-9 NEC) have now finished .500 or better in NEC play for the third straight season and will be the No. 6 seed in Wednesday's NEC Quarterfinal. The team will travel to Loretto, Pennsylvania to take on No. 3 Saint Francis U. 
 
Jenkins' blazing speed served as the catalyst in Saturday's win. The Ranson, West Virginia native's 22 points came on 9-of-12 shooting and he dished out six assists with five rebounds in the contest.
 
As has been the calling card all season for the Knights, four players scored in double figures with freshman Noah Morgan logging 19 on 7-of-11 shooting juniors Darnell Edge and Mike Holloway Jr. netting 16 and 13 points, respectively.
 
In addition to the pregame ceremony to honor Anderson and Schroback, head coach Greg Herenda and the Knights also recognized Bryant head coach Tim O'Shea, who concluded his 34-year coaching career on Saturday.
 
The Bulldogs were led by the three-point prowess of senior big man Gus Riley. All seven of Riley's field goals came from behind the arc (7-of-12) as he finished with a career-high 25 points in just 23 minutes of action. Four Bulldogs (3-28, 2-16 NEC) scored in double figures including guard Ikenna Ndugba, who scored 13 with eight steals, five assists and five rebounds.
 
The Knights shot 50 percent from the field and overcame 20 turnovers by out-rebounding the Bulldogs 39-30 in the contest. Both teams made their free throw trips count as Bryant made 21-of-22 (95.5 percent) at the line, while the Knights converted 15-of-19 (78.9 percent).

"I think it is so appropriate that today we won the basketball game by four points and that's exactly how many points Mike Schroback scored," said Herenda following the win. In his 86^th career game as a Knight, Schroback, made his first career start and knocked down a long first-half 3-pointer and later added a free throw.

Herenda continued, "That was a tremendous send-off victory for two people that have meant so much to this program. Mike and Darian have literally helped us bring the life back into Fairleigh Dickinson basketball. I cannot thank them enough for what they have done here both on the floor, in the classroom and in the community."

"Jahlil was awesome tonight -- he came off of the bench, sparked us and then finally led us to victory. Bryant played really, really hard for their coach but we just figured out a way to come up with the win tonight. I am very proud of this group. When we lost our captain and leader Darian, these guys just regrouped and came together."

With Hunter Ware's 11 leading the way, the Bulldogs established a 20-9 lead midway through the opening half.

Beginning at the 6:21 mark, the Knights closed the stanza on an 18-5 run led by seven points apiece from Edge and Jenkins. When the halftime buzzer sounded, the Knights held a 40-34 lead. Morgan scored 12 of his 19 points in the first 20 minutes of action, while Ware scored 13 of his 17 points in the half.

After scoring just seven points on 1-of-3 shooting in the opening stanza, Riley went to work from behind the arc and brought his team back. The Bryant big man's 3-pointer with 15:47 to go put the Bulldogs in front 48-47 and they would eventually stretch the advantage to four after he stroked another trifecta two minutes later.

The Knights were able to weather the storm and held the Bulldogs without a made field goal over final 3:49 of the contest.

Trailing by one with 1:54 to go, the Knights would score the game's final seven points – all at the free throw line – to seal the win.

Edge, who entered the game as the nation's top free throw shooter, put the game out of reach by making a pair with seven ticks left.  

Herenda closed, "We just need to get some rest and get ready for Saint Francis. Our team has played well on the road and we are now 120 minutes away from our goal."