Game 24
Fairleigh Dickinson (8-15, 5-7 NEC) at Sacred Heart (8-17, 3-9 NEC)
Date: Thursday, February 8, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Rothman Center - Hackensack, N.J.
Coverage: NEC Front Row

The Knights begin a two-game homestand when they welcome the Sacred Heart Pioneers on Thursday night. The game will benefit the In a Heartbeat Foundation, which was founded in 2015 as a foundation aimed to raise money and awareness for heart health. We will not only have the founder, Mike Papale, on-hand, but will also be collecting donations for the foundation in lieu of General Admission for this game.

The Series...SHU leads 19-12
at FDU...5-9
Last Five...1-4
Streak... L4
Last Meeting...FDU 65, SHU 66 (12/31/17 at SHU)
Opening Tip: The Knights are looking to even the season series with the Pioneers when these two teams meet on Saturday afternoon.
<> The Knights are 5-4 at home this season, while the Pioneers have a 2-9 road record. FDU closes the regular season with four of their last six games at home.
<> These two teams are just two games apart in the NEC standings with the Pioneers currently on the outside looking in at the eighth and final postseason NEC spot.
<> The first meeting between these squads on New Year's Eve came down to the wire as a goaltending call in the final seconds put the Pioneers on top for a one-point win.
<> FDU is coming off of its first win at Robert Morris in over a decade as they topped the Colonials 73-67 last Saturday. The team's brief two-game homestand concludes on Sunday with a CBS Sports Network game against first-place Wagner.
<> The Pioneers snapped a five-game skid last time out by defeating CCSU 67-54 on Saturday.
<> This year's squad is led by preseason All-NEC honoree Joseph Lopez who scores 12.3 points a game and grabs 9.2 rebounds. Lopez's rebound rate, which is second highest in the NEC is a key for the Pioneers who lead the conference with a +7.0 rebound margin.
<> Defensively, the Pios rank 2nd in the NEC in points allowed at 70.6 but score the fewest points per game at 66.8.
<>The Knights enter Thursday's game ranked second in the NEC in steals per game (7.74) and third in blocks (3.52).

Knights Last Time Out
Led by junior guard Darnell Edge's 15 second-half points, the Knights captured a 73-67 NEC road win over Robert Morris at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday afternoon.

After connecting on just 1-of-6 in the first half, Edge sprung to life in the second stanza scoring 15 of his team-high 18 points. The junior guard knocked down four 3-pointers and nabbed seven rebounds in the win.

The Knights, who led for most of the game, tallied 19 second-chance points thanks to 15 offensive rebounds -- their second-highest output of the season. Sophomore forward Kaleb Bishop continued his outstanding play of late by scoring 15 points (7-of-12 FG) and contributing to the Knights' rebounding performance by nabbing eight caroms.

Freshman forward Noah Morgan matched Bishop's 15 tallies to go along with six boards and classmate Jahlil Jenkins scored 11 with seven assists as the Knights capped their three-game road trip with a 2-1 record.

Three Colonials (13-12, 7-5 NEC) logged double figures led by sophomore guard Dachon Burke, who scored 19 with eight rebounds and five assists.

Herenda Postgame:
"These kids make mistakes but they are extremely resilient. That was 100 percent a total team effort today."

"We gave the Knight of the Game Award to Mike Schroback -- he came in and made a critical three in the first half when we needed it most -- and we could have given it to six or seven guys."

"Robert Morris has given us problems out here for years but today our young guys didn't know any better. Jahlil, Noah, and Kaleb were huge and then Darnell finished the job. I am very proud of this team and staff -- now we just need to be more consistent down the stretch."

"We have a huge home weekend coming up but we just need to have another great week of practice and continue to improve."

Knights vs Pioneers
Last Five Meetings:
12/31/17: FDU 65, SHU 66 (at SHU)
2/16/17: FDU 81, SHU 91 (at SHU)
2/2/17: FDU 70, SHU 74 (at FDU)
2/20/16: FDU 86, SHU 91 (at FDU)
1/7/16: FDU 80, SHU 68 (at SHU)

Last Meeting Recap:
The Knights led by one in the final minute before the Pioneers held possession under their own basket with 5.9 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, Sacred Heart's Mario Matasovic drove to the hoop and lofted a floater, which was offline, however, the officials ruled Mike Holloway Jr. goaltended the shot by making contact with the backboard and awarded the go-ahead basket to the Pioneers. The Knights had one final attempt but needed to go the distance of the court with 2.8 seconds remaining. Holloway found Darian Anderson, who fired an off-balance 25-footer, which caromed off of the back of the rim as the final horn sounded. Anderson finished with a full stat line of 19 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals in the loss and moved into ninth-place on the Knights' all-time scoring list.

Next Up: The Knights host Wagner this Sunday, February 11 at 2:00 p.m. The first 500 students and fans will receive a white t-shirt and pom-pom as part of the "White-Out Game". The game, which will air on CBS Sports Network, will also feature a halftime jersey retirement ceremony for FDU Hall of Famer Rich Conrad.