HACKENSACK, N.J. – Behind a career-high 32 points from senior guard Darnell Edge the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team topped Bryant 97-84 at the Rothman Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
In the win, Edge knocked down 7-of-8 from three-point land and 11-of-14 overall – both also career-bests – as the Knights shot 57.9 percent overall. The field-goal percentage matches a season-high for the Knights (13-13, 8-6 NEC), who have registered that clip three times this season.
 
Joining Edge in double figures were Jahlil Jenkins with 18 points, Xzavier Malone-Key 15 points, and Elyjah Williams, who tallied 12 points. Jenkins added seven assists and matched his career-high with five steals.
 
In addition to the aforementioned performances, senior forward Mike Holloway Jr. came one point shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds, while junior guard Pat McNamara delivered his best performance of the season with nine points on 3-of-4 from long range.
 
As a team, the Knights buried 13-of-23 (56.5 percent) of their 3-pointers. The 13 made trifectas matched a season best, while the percentage is their highest rate this season.
 
For the Bulldogs (8-17, 5-9 NEC), Adam Grant poured in 27 points and SaBastian Townes added 23 points with five rebounds.  
 
In the win, the Knights defense forced 18 turnovers, which helped account for 20 fast-break points.

"That was a great bounce-back victory for the Knights," said Greg Herenda after the win. "I could not be any happier for Pat McNamara as he came back from a very difficult injury versus Bryant last year and helped propel us to a huge victory today. What more can you say about Darnell Edge. He came out and got us off to a great start and had a career night. To go along with Darnell, Jahlil was fantastic and helped us finish out the game on both ends of the floor. After a very difficult defeat on Thursday, our entire team responded to win another big conference game against a very talented Bryant team."
 
Edge was locked in from the opening tip and scored 10 of the Knights' first 19 points as they led 19-7 five minutes into the game. As a team, the Knights started 7-for-9 from the field.
 
The hot shooting continued for the Burgundy and Blue, whose lead eventually ballooned to 17 points after McNamara knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:28 to play in the half.
 
With Edge leading the way by drilling 4-of-5 from three-point range, the Knights finished the half 7-of-12 from behind the arc and carried a 45-33 lead into the locker room.
 
Williams put an exclamation point on the half by cleaning up a missed layup with a two-handed throwdown as the halftime horn blared. The sophomore forward finished with eight points in the stanza as the Knights shot 58.3 percent from the field.
 
Malone-Key opened the second half with a driving layup, which put the Knights up 14 but the Bulldogs would chip away. With Grant providing the firepower, the Bulldogs clawed back to within four, 59-55, with 12 minutes to play.
 
Leading by one, Edge and Malone-Key struck for back-to-back 3-pointers, which ignited a 10-0 run by the Knights and made it a 78-67 game with under four minutes to go.
 
The Knights defense locked in and held the Bulldogs scoreless for nearly four minutes before Townes dropped in a putback layup to snap the drought.
 
Despite Townes' bucket, the Knights were off and running for the remainder of the contest. Leading by seven in the final minute, Jenkins used his quick crossover to drop the defender to the floor before driving and dishing it out to McNamara, who splashed a corner 3-pointer.
 
On the next Knights possession, McNamara launched a full-court inbound pass over the defense to a sprinting Malone-Key, who finished a physical layup for the and-one opportunity and put the game away.
 
The Knights are back on the floor next Thursday, February 21 when they host Sacred Heart (12-15, 8-6 NEC) at 7:00 p.m.