HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team came back to force overtime on a Darnell Edge three-pointer at the end of regulation against Central Connecticut State, battling all the way to a second overtime before falling 103-96 in the Rothman Center Thursday night.
 
The Knights (6-9, 1-2 NEC) battled back from a 18-point deficit in the second half, with an earlier Edge three-pointer catalyzing a 15-2 run that provided the home team its first lead since six minutes into the game. Sophomore Jahlil Jenkins finished off the run with a step-back jumper.
 
The Blue Devils (7-9, 1-2 NEC) scored the next four points to go up 73-70 with four seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds play, Edge corralled the loose ball and launched a three that banked off the glass and in as time expired.
 
Each team scored nine points in the first overtime, with a Williams dunk once again tying the game, 82-82, with 30 seconds left. CCSU's Tyler Kohl missed a three-pointer as the clock ran out and pushed to double overtime.
 
In the second overtime, the Blue Devils benefited from a 9-0 run that the Knights could not recover from, ending the comeback bid after 50 minutes of play.
 
The game was the longest for the Knights since requiring two overtimes against Lafayette on January 2, 2011, a 98-92 loss. It was also the Knights' longest NEC game since January 29, 2009, against LIU Brooklyn (then Long Island University), which also ended in a loss (91-88).
 
Jenkins led the Knights with a career-high of 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting to go with four steals in 49 minutes.
 
Four more Knights scored in double figures as well. Edge finished with 18 points, junior Kaleb Bishop added 15 points and eight rebounds, and Williams contributed 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds and five assists. Sophomore Xzavier Malone-Key scored 13 points as well.
 
Kohl finished with a triple-double for CCSU with a line of 27 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Ian Krishnan also scored 27 points for the Blue Devils and hit seven three-pointers.
 
"Give Donyell and his team all of the credit," head coach Greg Herenda said after the game. "They played better and made more tough plays than we did all night long. Our guys never gave up but that doesn't win you college basketball games. What does is playing with energy, urgency and extreme passion, and we did not do that to the best of our ability tonight."
 
The Knights shot 50 percent from the floor (23-of-46) from the start of the second half onward after starting the game 10-of-26. The Knights dished out 15 assists as a team. Both squads finished with 18 turnovers, and CCSU had the edge on the boards, 40-36.
 
FDU jumped out to an early five-point lead after a Jenkins fast-break layup, but after a Williams layup two possessions later, the Blue Devils went on an extended run to go up by 20 before an Edge three-pointer broke the rally.
 
Edge's triple started a 13-2 run for the home team, with Williams scoring five straight points and sophomore Tyler Jones netting five straight points as well. CCSU maintained a double-digit lead until Jenkins made a three-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half with the Knights down 39-31.
 
Mike Holloway Jr. finished a layup to start the second half, but the Blue Devils responded with another run to go up 57-39 with 12 minutes to go.
 
The Knights continued to chip away at the deficit in the second half until exploding for 15 of the next 17 points scored over a six-minute stretch late in the half. Edge's three with 6:52 left was followed by a Bishop three-point play the old-fashioned way, and Malone-Key drilled a three to bring the Knights within six.
 
After a CCSU basket, Bishop drew a hard foul and sank one of two free throws. Malone-Key later hit a jumper with three minutes to go, and Holloway Jr. added a layup off a nice dish inside from Edge to make it a one-possession game.
 
Edge then collected a clutch steal on the defensive end and finished the fast-break layup with less than two to play, and Jenkins finished the comeback with his jumper in the final minute.
 
The lead changed four different times in the first overtime, but the Blue Devils led for most of the second ovetime period. A Bishop three-pointer tied the game at 86 for the final time before CCSU scored nine straight to take a lead it would not relinquish.
 
The Knights finished with their most points in an NEC game since 2016's 101-95 home victory over LIU Brooklyn on January 21.
 
FDU returns to action Saturday afternoon, traveling to NEC-rival Wagner for a 4 p.m., tip-off.