NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – Junior forward
Kaleb Bishop notched a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double and the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team extended its win streak to five by closing out the regular season with a 70-58 victory over Central Connecticut State at Detrick Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Knights (17-13, 12-6 NEC), earned a share of the NEC Regular-Season Championship for the first time since 2006 and will host Wagner at 7:00 p.m. this Wednesday, March 6 in the NEC Tournament Quarterfinals.
Bishop's 17 points led three Knights in double figures as senior
Darnell Edge scored 15 points with four assists and three boards and sophomore
Jahlil Jenkins added 13 points with four steals, three rebounds and two assists.
Edge, who entered the contest ranked inside of the top 10 nationally in three-point field goal percentage, hit 4-of-6 from behind the arc and moved into second place all-time at FDU with 188 3-pointers.
As a team, the Knights made 12-of-23 (52.2 percent) from behind the arc, which proved to be the difference as the two teams both shot 43 percent overall. The Knights edged Central (11-20, 5-13 NEC) on the boards 34-32 and each team grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in the contest.
Freshman
Brandon Powell provided the Burgundy and Blue with a spark off of the bench and record a career-high eight points and four steals, while
Mike Holloway Jr. led the Knights with a career-high five assists in the win.
"I give credit to Donyell (Marshall) and his team, they play very hard together and we had to work for 40 minutes to come away with a victory today," said
Greg Herenda following the win. "Today was the end of a long road trip and I just love how my team stayed together and played so hard in both victories. I really cannot say enough about
Darnell Edge and his career. He came to Fairleigh Dickinson at the age of 17 and has worked himself into one of the great players in our school's history. He truly did it the old-fashioned way and there is more to come."
On the contributions of his team Herenda added, "
Brandon Powell continues to come off the bench and give us quality minutes on both sides of the ball. He and Kaleb were both terrific today when we needed them the most. Now it is tournament time and it is March and there is nothing better than that."
The Knights opened the afternoon by scoring the first eight points and they led 11-2 just over five minutes into action. Over that same span, they forced the Blue Devils to commit five turnovers.
The first four made baskets by the Burgundy and Blue came from behind the arc until
Xzavier Malone-Key tipped in his own miss. Bishop followed with a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer as the Knights established their first double-digit lead of the game 26-13 with 8:12 to play in the half.
As has been the case for most of the season, the Knights had the touch from distance as they made five of their first seven from three-point land.
The Blue Devils would close the gap to three before the Knights eventually carried a 34-29 lead into the locker room.
Bishop was at the forefront of the Knights' first-half performance tallying 14 points and six rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting. The Knights shot 42.3 percent overall but made six 3-pointers in the stanza.
For the Blue Devils, Chris Williams scored seven points as the team made 44.8 percent from the floor.
The Blue Devils opened the second half with a 7-0 run to take their first lead, 36-34, since the early going. The home team's edge would grow to five points before Jenkins struck back with his own 5-0 run to tie the game at 41.
Trailing by one, the Knights rattled off nine-unanswered points as part of a 12-3 run and captured a 57-49 lead with 8:04 to go. Powell catalyzed the spurt with his three-point shooting and frenetic defensive energy. Powell nabbed three of his four steals during the run and stroked a pair of 3-pointers.
The momentum continued for the Burgundy and Blue as they re-established their double-digit lead, 64-52 with 3:56 to play. Edge drained three of his six 3-pointers over that span.
