HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team will host Mount St. Mary's on Monday afternoon as part of the Northeast Conference's Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration slate.
Game 18
Fairleigh Dickinson (6-11, 1-4 NEC)
vs Mount St. Mary's (4-14, 1-4 NEC)
Date: Monday, January 21
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: Rothman Center (Hackensack, N.J.)
Coverage: NEC Front Row |
Live Stats
The Series
All-Time Series...30-28
at FDU...17-10
Last Five..3-2
Streak..W2
Last Meeting...Fairleigh Dickinson 80, Mount St. Mary's 79 (2/15/18 at Mount)
The Knights claimed a thrilling one-point victory over Mount St. Mary's at Knott
Arena in the last meeting.
Mike Holloway Jr. led the Knights with 23 points and nine rebounds and became the 27th Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball player to eclipse the 1,000 career-point mark.
Kaleb Bishop logged a 16-point, 14-rebound double-double. With the win, the Knights complete the season sweep of the Mountaineers, who were 9-1 on their home floor.
For the second time, the game came down to a final shot for the Mount but the Knights survived again. With FDU leading 79-76 and 14.5 to play, the Mount's Junior Robinson drew a foul from behind the arc and netted all three to tie the game.
On the ensuing possession,
Darnell Edge, who entered the game as the nation's top free throw shooter – missed the first but connected on the second to put the Knights on top by one.
The Mountaineers had one final shot but the defense of the Knights was up to task as they disrupted the play and forced Greg Alexander to heave a last-second 3-pointer, which was off the mark as time expired.
Opening Tip
- The Knights return home on Monday to play their second NEC home game in five outings this season.
- Inside the Rothman Center this season, the Burgundy and Blue are 4-3 overall.
- Last time out, the Knights were edged by two points at LIU Brooklyn in a game in which they led for most of the way and held a nine-point lead in the second half.
- In the loss at LIU, the Knights dished out a season-high 21 assists.
- The NEC opted to revamp their traditional Thursday/Saturday schedule in order to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. with a rare Monday afternoon men's basketball contest.
- Last time these two teams met, the Knights prevailed by one point in Emmitsburg by holding off a last-second shot by the Mount. Mike Holloway Jr. registered his 1,000th career point in the win.
- Four players are averaging double figures in points for FDU this season: Darnell Edge, Xzavier Malone-Key, Jahlil Jenkins and Mike Holloway Jr. In NEC games, that double figures average is five with Kaleb Bishop joining the aforementioned group.
- At 36.9 minutes per game, Jenkins ranks first in the NEC and 15th nationally.
- The key to the Knights' defense this season has been their 8.5 steals per game average, which leads the NEC and ranks 25th in the nation. They also are 67th in the country in turnover margin (+2.6).
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.
- Dan Engelstad is in his first season as head coach at The Mount. In his previous stop as head coach at Southern Vermont, he took over following a 1-24 season,and guided SVC to one of the top turnarounds in the country in 2013-14. The Mountaineers, who finished the campaign at 16-10 overall. Prior to his time at Southern Vermont, Engelstad served as an assistant coach for three years (2010-13) at Holy Cross and three years at the Mount (2007-10). Engelstad is a 2007 graduate of St. Mary's College (Maryland) with a bachelor's degree in political science. He served as a team captain (2004-07) for the Seahawks and graduated as the school's all-time leader with 419 career assists.
Scouting Mount St. Mary's
The Mountaineers earned their first NEC win of the season on Saturday with a difficult 70-56 victory at Wagner, who prior to the loss, was 21-4 at home over the last two seasons. Freshman Vado Morse paced the Mount with a career-high 20 points. Morse scored five consecutive points to give the Mount a 38-32 lead, and after Wagner made it 43-39,
Morse scored five in a row to make it 48-39. From there, the Mount was able to build its advantage to as much as 16 points en route to the win. The freshman guard is averaging 16.1 points and 3.0 assists over the last seven games and shooting 46.3 percent from the field. The young Mountaineers are projected to start five underclassmen, including three freshmen in Monday's contest.
Knights Last Time Out
FDU was edged 79-77 by LIU Brooklyn at the Steinberg Wellness Center on Saturday afternoon. The Knights 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.
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. The Knights shot 50 percent from the field in the half and carried a 37-31 lead into halftime but could not hold on.
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.
Coach Herenda's Thoughts
"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. We just have to continue persevere and get ready for a quick turnaround on Monday afternoon."
Up Next
The Knights host St. Francis Brooklyn (11-7, 3-2 NEC) this Thursday, January 24 at 7:00 p.m.
