PHILADELPHIA – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team dropped its final game of the non-conference slate, falling 66-58 at La Salle on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Knights, who led by as many as five points in the second half, trailed by one with 6:31 to play but suffered through a nearly five-minute scoreless drought, which allowed the Explorers (8-3) to pull away with the win.
 
Junior guard Jahlil Jenkins paced the Knights (2-9) with 21 points, five rebounds and five assists in the loss. Jenkins is now just nine points shy of becoming the 29^th Knight to eclipse 1,000 career points.
 
In his return home, Philadelphia native Xzavier Malone-Key scored 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Forwards Kaleb Bishop and Elyjah Williams finished with nine points and eight rebounds apiece in the loss.
 
The Burgundy and Blue shot 37.7 percent overall and were hampered by a 6-of-13 (46.2 percent) effort from the free throw line.
 
Second-year forward Ed Croswell led the Explorers with 18 points and 15 rebounds as the team shot 39 percent overall. The Explorers overcame a 2-of-19 (10.5 percent) clip from behind the arc by making 18-of-23 free throws and out-rebounding the Knights 45-35.

"We competed and fought hard today but just could not find a way to get over the top against a tough La Salle team in their building," said Greg Herenda following the loss. "We didn't shoot it well enough from the field, the three and the foul line in order to win. I have to give my team a ton of credit -- we played an incredibly difficult non-conference schedule, which spanned the ACC, SEC. Big East and Atlantic 10 and I think we represented ourselves well. I want to wish all of our families, alums, and fans happy and healthy holidays. We are looking forward to competing for another NEC Championship in 2020."
 
The Knights opened up an eight-point lead, 22-14, after Malone-Key connected on a jumper with 6:06 to play in the first half. Despite the early success, the Knights were unable to keep the Explorers down as the home team captured the momentum and finished the half by scoring 17 of the final 22 points to carry a 31-27 lead into halftime.
 
Jenkins paced the Knights with 11 first-half points and five rebounds as the team shot 35.5 percent overall and made 4-of-12 from deep. Defensively, the Burgundy and Blue held the Explorers to 36 percent from the field and 1-of-10 from distance.
 
A 7-0 spurt out of the break, highlighted by a Malone-Key 3-pointer, provided the Burgundy and Blue with a 38-33 lead at the under-16 media timeout.
 
After the Explorers retook the lead and established a seven-point edge, the Knights responded and closed back to within one, after Jenkins finished a layup over three defenders.
 
Trailing 50-49 with 6:31 to play, the Burgundy and Blue suffered through a scoreless drought, which allowed the hosts to pull away again and score 10 straight points to build a 59-49 lead.
 
The Knights begin the new year with Northeast Conference action as they visit St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday, January 2. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.