EASTON, Pa. – All five starters scored in double figures but the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team fell 80-75 at Lafayette on Sunday afternoon.
 
Senior forward Kaleb Bishop, who played all 40 minutes, matched his career-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Bishop added a team-high six rebounds in the contest but the Leopards (4-2) won the battle on the glass 35-23.
 
In his first game of the season, redshirt junior Xzavier Malone-Key scored 15 points and dished out a career-high five assists. Junior forward Elyjah Williams finished with 12 points four rebounds and three steals, while freshman Brandon Rush added a career-high 13 points and sophomore Brandon Powell scored 10.
 
The Leopards shot 50.9 percent in the game and received a 27-point effort from Justin Jaworski, who made 7-of-12 from the field and all 11 of his free throws. Myles Cherry double-doubled with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Tyrone Perry scored 12.
 
The Knights made 10-of-20 from three-point range and shot 51.9 percent overall but made just 11-of-19 (57.9 percent) at the line.
 
"I am very proud of our team's fight and grit today -- we competed and went toe to toe with a good team in their building," said Greg Herenda after the game. "We had to play a number of different combinations but we just didn't get the big stop or rebound that we needed to get us over the top. It was great to have five guys into double figures today. Kaleb was tremendous and having Xzavier back is huge for our team. I know I sound like a broken record but since I have been the head coach here, our non-conference schedule has helped us win championships and I feel the same way about this team. Once we get all of our pieces back together we will be fine but in the meantime you can feel this team is growing up."

The Leopards scored the game's first eight points, which included six points from Jaworski before Malone-Key weaved into the lane for his first bucket of the season. Malone-Key's two set off an 11-2 run for the Knights. Powell poured in five over the course of the burst before a Bishop 3-pointer gave the Knights their first lead 12-11 with 14:44 to play in the half.
 
The back-and-forth half saw each team hold four leads before the Leopards went in front on a Jaworski 3-pointer with 4:42 remaining and carried 42-36 lead into the locker room.
 
Bishop scored 14 first-half points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Rush added eight to lead the Knights. As a team, the Burgundy and Blue shot 50 percent in the opening stanza but surrendered a 53.8 percent clip to the Leopards, who were paced by Jaworski's 16 points.
 
The home team's momentum continued out of the break and they would establish a 56-42 lead after Perry made a 3-pointer with 11:34 to go.
 
The Knights would chip away and clawed to within three, 72-69, after Malone-Key knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing.
 
With under a minute to go, the teams traded baskets before the Knights made it a three-point game again after Rush knocked down a corner 3-pointer. Rush's trifecta, which came with 15 seconds left, would be the Knights' final basket of the night as Cherry broke free on an inbound pass and closed the game out with a dunk.
 
The Knights return to action on Tuesday, November 26 when they travel to South Bend, Indiana to take on Notre Dame.