HACKENSACK, N.J. – Locked in a five-way tie for second place in the Northeast Conference standings, the Fairleigh Dickinson and Sacred Heart men's basketball teams square off on Thursday night inside the Rothman Center.

Game 27
Fairleigh Dickinson (13-13, 8-6 NEC)
vs. Sacred Heart (12-15, 8-6 NEC)
Date: Thursday, February 21
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Rothman Center (Hackensack, N.J.)
Coverage: Live Stats
Video Stream: NEC Front Row (Sitesh Shah and Darryl Jacobs)

The Series
All-Time Series...13-20
at FDU..6-9
Last Five..1-4
Streak..L1
Last Meeting...Sacred Heart 69, Fairleigh Dickinson 63 (2/7/19 at SHU)
The Knights' five-game winning streak came to an end with the Feb. 7 loss at the Pitt Center. Senior Mike Holloway Jr., who grabbed his 700^th career rebound in the loss, finished with a team-high 13 points and went 6-for-6 at the line. Sophomore Xzavier Malone-Key tallied 11 points, while junior Kaleb Bishop scored nine points with eight rebounds.

The Knights trailed by just two points in the final minute but the Pioneers were able to close the game out at the free throw line. With the win, the Pioneers improved to 6-0 at home in NEC play and 8-1 overall inside the Pitt Center. Kinnon LaRose's 16 points led the way, while Koreem Ozier scored 14 points with nine rebounds and E.J. Anosike added 12 points and seven boards for the home team. In the loss, the Knights, who lead the NEC in field goal percentage, were held to 34.4 percent overall but connected on 9-of-20 (45 percent) from behind the arc.

Opening Tip

• Winners of seven of their last nine games, the Knights return to the floor for their third game of a four-game homestand on Thursday night.
• This is the second meeting between the Knights and Pioneers as SHU picked up a 69-63 victory on February 7 in Fairfield.
• Last game, the Knights scored 97 points on 57.9% shooting -- both matched season highs.
• The Knights and Pioneers are part of a five-way tie in the NEC standings at 8-6. The five teams trail Saint Francis U by two games.
• At home this season, the Knights boast a 9-4 mark and are averaging 83.3 points per contest on 49.5% shooting. They have won five of their last six at home.
• The Knights lead the NEC in FG% (46.9%), 3-PT FG% (39.1%), Assist/Turnover ratio (1.1), Steals (7.9) and Turnover Margin (1.7). Their 39.1 percent clip from behind the arc is 17^th-best in the nation.
• Darnell Edge leads the NEC in both 3-point FG% (46.9%) and FT% (87.2%). He's drained 13 of his last 15 3-pointers.
• Jahlil Jenkins (36.9 mpg) and Edge (36.8 mpg) rank first and second in the NEC in minutes played. Jenkins is also tops in Assist/TO ratio at 2.2.
• Greg Herenda enters Thursday's game with 198 career victories.
• The Knights are 12-0 when leading with five minutes to play in regulation and have scored 90+ points four times this season -- their most since 1997-98.

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.
• Anthony Latina is in his sixth season as head basketball coach for Sacred Heart. He is just the third head coach in the program's history, succeeding Dave Bike who retired in 2013 after 35 seasons at the helm. Latina took over the reins of the program after spending eight seasons as an assistant under Bike. He joined Bike's staff in 2005-06 after spending the previous six seasons as an assistant coach at Central Connecticut State. Prior to joining CCSU, Latina worked for four years as an assistant coach at UMass Lowell. During his playing career, Latina was a four-year starter and two-year captain as a point guard at Brandeis University.

Scouting Sacred Heart
Last time out, the Pioneers (12-15, 8-6 NEC) fell to LIU Brooklyn, 92-84 on the road Saturday afternoon at the Steinberg Wellness Center. Four Pioneers scored in double-figures with Koreem Ozier's 23 points leading the way. The Pioneers' leading scorer from last season, senior Sean Hoehn, is currently third in the NEC in scoring, averaging 18 points per game. Hoehn is shooting 46.1% from the field, 40.6% from three and 83.9% from the charity stripe this season. Defensively, the Pioneers are led by redshirt junior, Jare'l Spellman, who is averaging 2.96 blocks per game, which ranks fourth in the nation and is tops in the NEC. Spellman has totaled 80 blocks this season, which ranks fourth in the nation and first in the conference. As a team, the Pioneers are scoring 78.6 points per game per game in NEC games this season and shooting 79.3 percent from the line -- both figures rank first in the NEC. Following Thursday's tilt with the Knights, the Pioneers return to the Nutmeg State to take on Central Connecticut this Saturday.

Knights Last Time Out
Behind a career-high 32 points from Darnell Edge the Knights 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, 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. 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.

Junior guard Pat McNamara delivered his best performance of the season with nine points on 3-of-4 from long range.

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.

Coach Herenda's Thoughts
"That was a great bounce-back victory for the Knights. 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."

Next Up
The Knights will honor seniors Nadi Beciri, Darnell Edge and Mike Holloway Jr. when they host Senior Day against Wagner on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. The three seniors will be recognized prior to tip-off. Saturday's contest also marks the final regular-season home game for the Knights this season.