HACKENSACK, N.J. – All five Fairleigh Dickinson starters scored in double figures in the Knights' 77-67 victory over Sacred Heart at the Rothman Center on Thursday night.
 
Freshman forward Noah Morgan led the charge by matching his career-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting, while sophomore forward Kaleb Bishop amassed his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 boards. 
 
The Knights (9-15, 6-7 NEC) shot 51.7 percent from the field and turned 13 Sacred Heart turnovers into 22 points. Freshman guard Jahlil Jenkins nabbed two of the Knights' seven steals and scored 15 with five assists and three rebounds, while junior guard Darnell Edge scored 17 in the victory. The four aforementioned starters along with Mike Holloway Jr.'s 12-point, five-rebound performance amounted to all 77 points scored by the Knights in the contest.
 
Sacred Heart (8-18, 3-10 NEC) redshirt senior forward Mario Matasovic led all scorers with 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the loss.

After the win, head coach Greg Herenda spoke to FDUKnights.com. "We are starting to find a formula for success. We are getting off to good starts and gaining more and more confidence as we go deeper into games. It really feels like December with this team. Once Darian went down, we had to move some parts around and now we are starting to gel. This is a very young talented group but we still need to keep on improving."

Herenda added, "I don't think I've ever coached in a game where my team had all five starters get double figures and not a single point from the bench but I'll take it."

The Knights opened up their first double-digit lead of the game, 28-17, after Edge knocked down a 3-pointer with just under seven minutes to play in the opening stanza. Edge and Morgan combined for 15 of the Knights' first 30 points.
 
The Pioneers responded with an 11-4 spurt where they went 5-for-5 from the field led by six points from Joseph Lopez but the Knights held on to the lead and carried a 40-33 edge into the locker room. Lopez finished with 11 points and seven boards.
 
Morgan paced the Knights in the opening half with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, while Jenkins had nine with three rebounds and three assists.
 
The second half began with a blazing drive to the hoop by Jenkins for the first two points. One of Morgan's five 3-pointers on the night provided the Knights their largest lead of the contest, 52-38, with 15:35 to play in regulation. But the Pioneers would answer by outscoring the Knights 19-9 over the next eight minutes to close to within four, 61-57, with 7:11 left to play.
 
Bishop had the response the Knights needed – with the shot clock winding down – the Paterson, New Jersey native swished a high-arching 3-pointer, which quelled the Pioneers' momentum and put the home team back on track.
 
The Knights would rebuild their double-digit lead and never look back as they closed out their second win in a row and third in their last four outings.
 
Morgan's 5-for-7 performance from behind the arc contributed to a 9-for-22 (40.9 performance) by the Knights who overcame a 37-30 disparity on the boards to net the victory. In the loss, the Pioneers shot 41 percent (25-of-61) and just 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from three-point range.

Herenda concluded, "It was great to get the crowd involved with Noah's three and then Kaleb's dunk brought the house down. Now, we need to pack the house for No. 40 on Sunday and give Rich Conrad and his family the respect that they so much deserve."
 
The Knights are back in action with Sunday's CBS Sports Network showdown against Wagner at the Rothman Center. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. in Hackensack and the Knights will retire FDU Hall of Famer Rich Conrad's No. 40 jersey at halftime. Also, the first 500 fans in attendance will receive a "White-Out for Wagner" t-shirt.