HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team concludes its three-game road trip on Thursday night at Wagner.
 
FDU Knights (4-15, 2-6 NEC) at Wagner Seahawks (5-14, 2-6 NEC)
Thursday, Jan. 30– 7:00 PM
Spiro Sports Center (Staten Island, N.Y.)
Watch: NEC Front Row
Talent: Joey Wahler
Notes: KNIGHTS | Wagner
 Links: Live Stats | Twitter 

All-Time Series
FDU trails 55-56
at Wagner...22-30
Last Five..3-2
Streak...W2
First Meeting..Wagner 83, FDU 68 (12/16/55 at Wagner)
Last Meeting..FDU 84, Wagner 46 (3/6/19 at FDU - NEC QF)
The Knights rolled to the win in last season's NEC Quarterfinal matchup at the Rothman Center. In front of a raucous Burgundy and Blue crowd, the NEC Regular Season Champion Knights made an opening-game statement and held the Seahawks to just 14 first-half points. The Knights' 38-point margin of victory is the largest ever in an NEC Tournament game. All five starters scored in double figures led by All-NEC Second Team honoree, Mike Holloway Jr.'s 18 points. All-NEC First Teamer, Darnell Edge scored 15 points with a career-high seven steals, while Elyjah Williams added 17 points on 5-of-5 shooting and six rebounds. Kaleb Bishop totaled 11 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots, while Jahlil Jenkins added 11 points and six assists. Elijah Davis topped the box score for the seventh-seeded Seahawks with 23 points and eight rebounds in the loss, while All-NEC Second Team honoree, Romone Saunders scored nine points and grabbed eight caroms. The Knights held their conference foe to a 27.9% from the field and forced 21 turnovers with a season-high 14 steals in the victory.

FDU Last Time Out
The Knights fell 77-60 to Sacred Heart at the William H. Pitt Center on Saturday afternoon. Redshirt junior guard Xzavier Malone-Key paced the Knights (4-15, 2-6 NEC) with 14 points, five rebounds and two assists. Senior forward Kaleb Bishop and sophomore guard Brandon Powell joined Malone-Key in double figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
 
With his third point of the afternoon, Bishop became the 30th Knight to eclipse 1,000 career points, joining teammate Jahlil Jenkins, who accomplished the feat earlier this month. Five Pioneers (12-9, 5-3 NEC) scored in double figures led by Koreem Ozier's 16 points. E.J. Anosike double-doubled with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Kinnon La Rose scored 11 and made three from downtown. Anosike's rebounding effort helped lead the home team to a 40-25 advantage on the glass.
 
The Knights shot 43 percent overall and made 3-of-12 from three-point range, while the Pioneers hit 50 percent from the field and 9-of-26 from deep.
 
Coach Herenda's Thoughts
"I have to congratulate Kaleb on his 1,000th point. His improvement from high school to this very day is really amazing. I am so proud of Kaleb and how he has worked on his game and matured into a truly great student-athlete. He has done so much here at Fairleigh Dickinson and obviously his career is far from over."
 
"I've always told my teams that home teams on Saturday afternoons usually win about 70 percent of the time and you have to do something special to reverse that," Herenda continued. "Today, we did not do anything special enough to win this game. I might sound crazy but I thought we did a lot of good things today but we just could not put anything consistently together. This team still has the potential to do something special -- I really believe that."

What's Next
The Knights return home for the first of three straight inside the Rothman Center. First up is a date with Mount St. Mary's this Saturday, February 1. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. following the conclusion of the FDU women's basketball game against the Mountaineers. At halftime, the athletic department will honor its 2019-20 Hall of Fame class.