BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team was edged 79-77 by LIU Brooklyn at the Steinberg Wellness Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Knights (6-11, 1-4 NEC) held a double-digit advantage and led by nine with 11 minutes to go but were unable to slow the Blackbirds, who shot 61.3 percent in the second half and eventually took the lead they would not relinquish.
 
Senior guard Darnell Edge led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while sophomore forward Elyjah Williams filled up the statsheet with 18 points (6-for-8), six rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Junior forward Kaleb Bishop joined the duo in double figures with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
 
Four Blackbirds (9-8, 3-2 NEC) scored double figures paced by Raiquan Clark's 20 points. Clark finished with a double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds and helped his team pull down 17 offensive boards to win the battle on the glass 40-25. The 17 offensive caroms led to 18 second-chance points for the Blackbirds. 

In the loss, the Knights dished out a season-high 21 assists.

"It feels like Groundhog Day, we are getting into the same positions to win games and we just are not finishing. We wasted a number of really good offensive nights by a bunch of guys but until we make consecutive stops and get clean rebounds you're not going to finish games in buildings like this." said head coach Greg Herenda.
 
A tightly-contested first half saw the Knights gain some separation and establish their first double-digit lead of the night, 33-23, after Jahlil Jenkins converted a fastbreak layup with 4:30 to play in the half. Jenkins' bucket capped a 9-0 run by the Knights, which included a corner 3-pointer by Edge and a pair of layups by Bishop and Williams. The sophomore guard Jenkins finished with seven points and eight assists in the loss.
 
The Knights finished the half at 50 percent from the field and carried a 37-31 lead into halftime.
 
Williams led a balanced scoring attack with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and filled up the box score with six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal through the first 20 minutes of action. Bishop scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, while Edge chipped in eight for the Burgundy and Blue.
 
Julius Van Sauers made all four of his shots and topped the Blackbirds' scoresheet with nine first-half points. The home team made just 3-of-11 (27.3 percent) from behind the arc, while the Knights converted 3-of-7 from deep in the half.
 
Each team made seven of their first 10 shots to begin the second half but the difference was the Knights' three-point prowess as they converted 3-of-4 from downtown and led 57-48 at the under-12 media timeout.
 
The Blackbirds continued their hot shooting and a 7-for-8 stretch allowed them to erase the deficit and tie the game at 65-65 with 6:51 to go in regulation.
 
Less than a minute later, the Blackbirds captured their first lead since the early going, 71-67, thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by Tyler Flowers.
 
Still trailing by four with 1:16 to play, Xzavier Malone-Key knocked down a 3-pointer to make it a 78-77 game but it would result in the Knights' final basket of the contest.
 
The Burgundy and Blue had two possessions to take the lead including a three-point attempt by Malone-Key with five seconds remaining but his shot was offline and the Blackbirds prevailed with the win.

Herenda added, "We just have to continue persevere and get ready for a quick turnaround on Monday afternoon."
 
The Knights will look to snap their three-game slide when they return home to host Mount St. Mary's on Monday afternoon.