Game 31
NEC Tournament Semifinals
No. 6 Fairleigh Dickinson (13-17)
at
No. 4 LIU Brooklyn (16-16)
Date: Saturday, March 3, 2018
Time: 12:04 p.m.
Location: Steinberg Wellness Center - Brooklyn, N.Y.
Coverage: ESPN3 | NEC Front Row | FDU Radio | Live Stats 
Talent: ESPN3 - Paul Dottino & Terry O'Connor
FDUKnights Audio - Sitesh Shah & Rich Terpak

The Series...FDU 53, LIU 51
at LIU...FDU 26, LIU 26
Last Five...FDU 3, LIU 2
Streak... L1
Last Meeting...FDU 85, LIU 90 (1/11/18 at FDU)
Opening Tip: These two teams split their season meetings with the road team earning the victory each time.
<> The Knights came away with an 11-point win at LIU in the NEC openerback on Dec. 29 before LIU came away with a five-point at FDU in January.
<> The Knights have won six of their last eight games, while the Blackbirds are riding a three-game win streak, including a 23-point triumph over St. Francis Brooklyn in Wednesday's Quarterfinal.
<> Mike Holloway Jr. has been dominant in the team's two meetings this season avearging 22.5 pts and 10 rebounds on 65.5 percent shooting. As has been the case throughout the season, Joel Hernandez and Raiquan Clark have shouldered the load for LIU against FDU averaging 22.5 ppg and 21 ppg with 9 rpg, respectively.
<> This game features six All-NEC honorees: FDU - Holloway (2nd team), Edge (3rd team), Jenkins/Morgan (Rookie Team). LIU - Hernandez (1st team) and Clark (3rd team).
<>FDU head coach Greg Herenda is 4-2 in NEC postseason games across his four appearances, while this is LIU head coach Derek Kellog's first season in the conference.
<> The Knights and Blackbirds have met eight times in the NEC Tournament and FDU leads the series 5-3.
<> The Blackbirds have been the No. 4 seed in three of those eight meetings including the last two. The Knights are 2-1 when LIU is the fourth seed but LIU won the last postseason meeting 63-61 in 2010.

Knights at SFU Semifinal Recap

Led by the clutch shooting of guards Jahlil Jenkins and Darnell Edge along with sophomore forward Kaleb Bishop's career-high 21 points, the sixth-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team topped third-seed Saint Francis U 84-75 at DeGol Arena on Wednesday night to advance to the Northeast Conference Semifinals.

Trailing 72-69 with three minutes to go, the Knights closed the game on a 15-3 run to complete the victory. Edge hit the game-tying 3-pointer, which sparked the run and then freshman forward Noah Morgan dropped in a layup for the go-ahead basket.

In the win, Bishop finished with a career-high 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting to go along with five rebounds and Jenkins scored 16 with six assists and five boards. Jenkins also connected on all four of his 3-point attempts on the night.

Five Knights logged double-figures with all five players contributing with timely baskets down the stretch. Morgan logged his second career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while the junior guard Edge finished with 18 points and hit a game-tying 3-pointer in the final minutes. Mike Holloway Jr. scored 11 with six boards as the Knights out-rebounded SFU 37-29.

Herenda Postgame:

"I really do not know where to start but I can say that I am so very proud of this group. Saint Francis is a good basketball team and very well-coached but we answered every run that they made. Kaleb was awesome, Noah, Darnell, Jahlil – you can go down the list but that again was all about team. 

"I think the game was eventually decided by our ability to get on the offensive glass and get more shots than Saint Francis and we capitalized a great deal on those opportunities. I just love our grit on the road. That makes our team 5-5 on the road and that speaks volumes about the character of our team."

FDU NEC Tournament Notes

The Knights secured the No. 6 seed in the NEC Tournament for the second straight season and have now qualified for three straight conference tournaments. Head Coach Greg Herenda has led his team to a .500 or better record in NEC play in each of those three seasons as the team posted its second straight 9-9 NEC campaign.

The Knights and Blackbirds have met eight times in the NEC postseason
3/4/10 :#4 LIU 61,#5 FDU 61 (at LIU)
3/6/05: #2 FDU 70, #4 LIU 62 (at FDU)
3/2/98: #2 FDU 105, #1 LIU 91 (at LIU)
3/5/92: #6 LIU 77, #3 FDU 60 (at FDU)
3/8/88: #1 FDU 94, #4 LIU 84 (at FDU)
3/6/86: #1 FDU 86, #8 LIU 57 (at FDU)
3/3/85: #2 FDU 73, #3 LIU 71 (at FDU)
3/10/83: #1N LIU 101, #2N FDU 98 (at LIU)

Fairleigh Dickinson is second with 30 appearances across the 37 NEC postseason tournaments. Robert Morris has qualified for the most in league history, 34, since the inception of the conference in 1982.

In 2016, Fairleigh Dickinson became the first school to win the NEC crown after failing to qualify for the tourney the previous year (when eligible).

This is the Knights' 30th NEC Tournament appearance and fourth in Greg Herenda's five seasons. Herenda is 4-2 in NEC postseason games.

FDU has won NEC Tournaments in 1985, 1988, 1998, 2005 and 2016. The five NEC Tournament championships are tied with LIU Brooklyn for third all-time behind Robert Morris' eight titles.

FDU is 31-24 all-time in the NEC Tournament and has reached the finals ten times (5-5).

FDU is 16-10 all-time in NEC quarterfinal/first round games, 10-8 in the semifinals, and 5-5 in championship games.

FDU owns the longest consecutive NEC Tournament qualification streak with 18 straight appearances from 1984-01.

FDU also holds the league record for consecutive NEC semifinal appearances with nine in a row from 1983-91.

Next Up: The winner of the FDU/LIU semifinal will take on the winner of top-seed Wagner and No. 7 Robert Morris on Tuesday, March 6.