HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Coming off of their double-overtime thriller against Central Connecticut, the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team gets back on the floor with a road game at Wagner on Saturday afternoon.

Game 16
Fairleigh Dickinson (6-9, 1-2 NEC)
at Wagner (7-7, 2-1 NEC)
Date: Saturday, January 12
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Location: Spiro Sports Center (Staten Island, N.Y.)
Coverage: NEC Front Row | Live Stats

The Series
All-Time Series...53-55
at Wagner...22-29
Last Five..2-3
Streak..W1
Last Meeting...FDU 76, Wagner 69 (2/11/18 at FDU)
In front of a raucous Rothman Center crowd, the Knights defeated the Seahawks last season at the Rothman Center in a game that was nationally televised on CBS Sports Network. The Knights' win snapped the Seahawks' seven-game win streak. Forward Mike Holloway Jr. tallied 23 points and seven boards on 10-of-16 shooting to top the Knights scoresheet.Darnell Edge played a key role by scoring 20 of his 22 points in the second stanza and helped stave off several Wagner runs by draining four 3-pointers. A relentless first-half defensive effort saw the Knights hold the Seahawks to just 18 first-half points on seven made baskets. The 18 points permitted were the fewest in a half last season by FDU.

Opening Tip

• The Knights are the midst of their difficult NEC-opening schedule with four of the first five games away from home.
• Last time out, the Knights rallied from a 20-point deficit against CCSU to force a pair of overtimes before ultimately falling.
• Sophomore guard Jahlil Jenkins poured in a career-high 25 points in the loss, while playing a career-high 49 minutes.
• Four players are averaging double figures in points for FDU this season: Darnell Edge, Xzavier Malone-Key, Jahlil Jenkins and Mike Holloway Jr.
• Sophomore guard Xzavier Malone-Key has registered 10 or more points in 12 of his 14 games this season and ranks second in the NEC with a 41.1 three-point field goal percentage
• The key to the Knights' defense this season has been their 8.7 steals per game average, which leads the NEC and ranks 24th in the nation. They also are 81st in the country in turnover margin (+2.2).

Scouting Wagner
Wagner is coming off a 76-63 victory over Sacred Heart on Thursday night. The Seahawks, who are in the midst of a four-game homestand, defeated CCSU (minus Tyler Kohl)  80-58 in their NEC opener before suffering their lone conference setback to St. Francis Brooklyn (59-66) last weekend. This year's squad is paced in scoring by redshirt senior guard Romone Saunders who averages 18.5 points per game, which ranks third in the conference. Saunders is also the team's leading rebounder at 7.0 rpg. (6^th overall in NEC). Defense and rebounding have been at the forefront of Wagner's success under seventh-year head coach Bashir Mason and this season that trend has continued. The team ranks first in the NEC in both field goal defense (42.4%) and rebounding margin (+7.5) this season.

The Coaches

• Head Coach Greg Herenda is in his sixth season at the helm of the Knights. Last season, the Knights enjoyed their third consecutive .500 or better season in NEC play as Herenda led the team to a 9-9 conference mark. Under Herenda, the Knights have qualified for the NEC Tournament in four of his five seasons, including a 2016 NEC Championship when the team earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament featuring the third-youngest team in the nation.
• Seventh-year head coach Bashir Mason has led Wagner to NEC regular season titles, and accompanying NIT appearances, in two of the last three years, while earning a pair of NEC Coach of the Year honors during this stretch. Like Herenda, Mason hails from Jersey City. A 2007 graduate of Drexel, Mason concluded his college career second on the Dragons' all-time steals list (226) and fourth on its all-time assists list (471). Mason arrived at Wagner from Marist College, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach, under Dan Hurley.

Knights Last Time Out
The Knights 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 Burgundy and Blue 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.

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. 

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.

Coach Herenda's Thoughts
"Give Donyell and his team all of the credit. 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."

Next Up
The Knights are back on the road next Saturday, January 19 when they travel to LIU Brooklyn to face the defending NEC Champion Blackbirds at 4:30 p.m.