HACKENSACK, N.J. – With two games remaining in the 2018-19 regular season, the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team carries its three-game winning streak to Mount St. Mary's on Thursday for their first of two road contests this week. 

Game 29
Fairleigh Dickinson (15-13, 10-6 NEC)
at Mount St. Mary's (8-21, 5-11 NEC)
Date: Thursday, February 28
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Knott Arena (Emmitsburg, Md.)
Coverage: Live Stats
Video Stream: NEC Front Row 

Opening Tip

• The Knights have won nine of their last 11 games and have secured a home playoff game in the upcoming NEC Tournament. The Burgundy and Blue are heading to their fourth straight NEC postseason and currently occupy the second spot in the standings, trailing first-place Saint Francis U by one game.
• Mike Holloway Jr. earned NEC Player of the Week honors on Monday after averaging 23.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game last week. Against SHU on Thursday he scored a career-high 35 points -- the most by a Knight since 2009.
• The Knights lead the NEC in field-goal percentage (47.3%), three-point field goal percentage (39.7%), scoring margin (2.4), assist/turnover ratio (1.1), steals (7.7) and turnover margin (+1.5). Their 39.7 percent clip from behind the arc is seventh-best in the nation. In addition, their steal total ranks 36^th, and the field-goal percentage is 47^th.
• With their win over Wagner, the Knights moved to 11-4 at home this season. The 11 home wins are their most since 2005-06.
• Greg Herenda picked up career win No. 200 on Saturday against Wagner. He has 75 wins at the helm of the Knights.
• Darnell Edge leads the NEC in both three-point field goal percentage (47.7%) and free throw percentage (87.4%). His 47.7 percent three-point clip is fourth best in the nation.
• This is the second meeting between the Knights and Mountaineers this season. Back on Jan. 21 at the Rothman Center, the Knights prevailed by 18 points.  Edge scored 23 points and Kaleb Bishop had 21 in the win.

The Series
All-Time Series...31-28
at Mount..13-18
Last Five..3-2
Streak..W3
Last Meeting...Fairleigh Dickinson 87, Mount St. Mary's 69 (1/21/19 at FDU)
Led by a pair of 20-point games from Darnell Edge and Kaleb Bishop, the Knights defeated the Mount on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the Rothman Center.

The senior guard Edge finished with 23 points and junior forward Bishop added 21 as the two combined to make 10 3-pointers in the victory. Bishop's 21 points match a career-high for the Paterson, New Jersey native, who added five rebounds to his ledger and made 5-of-8 from three-point range.

In addition to the high-scoring duo, sophomore guard Xzavier Malone-Key chipped in 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting with six rebounds and three assists, while second-year point guard Jahlil Jenkins added 10 points with four assists and three steals.

As a team, the Knights, who led wire-to-wire, shot 51.7 percent for the game and made 12-of-26 from three-point range. The Burgundy and Blue forced 13 turnovers in the win and converted those Mount miscues into 20 points at the offensive end. In the loss, Omar Habwe paced the Mountaineers with 16 points and seven rebounds.

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
Featuring the second-youngest team in the nation, the Mountaineers enter their final two games of the season with an 8-21 overall record. The Mount has been eliminated from NEC Tournament contention but will look to shake up the standings in their final two games as they take on the Knights on Thursday before traveling to St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon. Despite an 81-58 setback at Bryant last game, the Mount has won three of its last four games including wins over Sacred Heart, Robert Morris and Central Connecticut. This year's squad is led by freshman guard Vado Morse, who is averaging 14.7 points per contest. Morse has won six NEC Rookie of the Week awards this season, while it was classmate Damion Chong Qui who took home the honor this week after he contributed 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game while shooting 60.0 percent, including a 50.0 percent mark from beyond the arc. Defensively, freshman Nana Opoku leads the charge and ranks second in the NEC with 45 blocked shots this season.

Knights Last Time Out
All five starters scored in double figures as the Knights extended their win streak to three by defeating Wagner 74-66 on Senior Day at the Rothman Center on Saturday
afternoon.

In the win the Knights led by as many as 17 points. The victory was also career win No. 200 for the Knights' sixth-year head coach, Greg Herenda.

Edge celebrated his senior day by scoring 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting and added four rebounds and three assists to his ledger. The senior guard, who entered the day ranked seventh in the nation in three-point field goal percentage, made 4-of-6 from behind the arc.  Edge's classmate and fellow captain, Mike Holloway Jr. added 11 points and seven rebounds, while Jahlil Jenkins and Xzavier Malone-Key netted 15 and 10 points, respectively. Jenkins added six rebounds and five assists in the win and Kaleb Bishop joined the foursome with 11 points.

Saturday's contest marks the 10th time this season that the Knights have registered five or more scorers in double figures. The Knights, who earned the season series split with the Seahawks, shot 59.1 percent in the second half and 51.1 percent overall, while limiting the Seahawks to 38.9 percent. Nigel Jackson paced the Seahawks with 22 points and made four 3-pointers in the loss.

Coach Herenda's Thoughts
"Tonight was all about Mike, Darnell, Nadi and our senior manager Nick. We wanted to send them off with a victory on Senior Day and that is exactly what we did. We beat a very, very hard-playing Wagner team. They play so hard and are so well-coached but our guys matched their intensity and competed just as hard for the entire 40 minutes."

"Darnell and Mike were great today but the unsung heroes may have been Kaleb and Jahlil. We have a ton of weapons so you never know who is going to step up. Our team just needs to continue to find ways to defend and rebound better. March is around the corner and this is exciting stuff."

Up Next
The Knights close out the regular season at Central Connecticut this Saturday, March 2 at 1:00 p.m.