STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Senior forward
Kaleb Bishop registered his seventh double-double of the season to help lead the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team to a 68-63 victory over Wagner at Spiro Sports Center on Thursday night.
Bishop scored 13 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the win, while junior guard
Jahlil Jenkins led all scorers with 19 points and connected on 4-of-7 from three-point range. Jenkins' four 3-pointers matched his career high and he added four assists with two steals to his ledger.
Brandon Powell and
Devon Dunn joined the duo with 10 points apiece in the victory. The double-digit scoring performance was Powell's eighth straight.
The Knights (5-15, 3-6 NEC), who trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half before mounting a game-changing 18-0 run, shot 39 percent overall and made 10-of-25 from three-point range. They also out-rebounded the Seahawks 38-31 in the contest. Junior forward
Elyjah Williams contributed to the rebounding advantage by grabbing nine boards to go along with seven points.
Darion Jordan-Thomas paced the Seahawks (5-15, 2-7 NEC) with 16 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting. As a team, the Seahawks shot 42.9 percent overall but just 4-of-22 (18.2 percent) from deep.
"I really don't know how we did it but I said to my staff during the second half that we need to go on a run and luckily, we went on a big one," said
Greg Herenda after the road win. To go on an 18-0 run, you need to get stops and in the second half we did just that. For us to hold a potent Wagner offense to 27 points on their court was very impressive and the key to our victory."
Both teams started slowly with the Knights making 4-of-17 and the Seahawks 4-of-13 en route to a 10-10 tie midway through the opening half.
With Jenkins leading the charge, the Knights took a 25-23 lead after Bishop converted a layup with 3:14 to play in the half however, the Seahawks would finish strong. Over the final three minutes, the home team outscored the Burgundy and Blue 13-4 and carried a 36-29 lead into halftime.
Jenkins scored 11 on 4-of-6 from the field and drained three from downtown in the half, while Bishop scored eight and grabbed six rebounds. The Knights shot 37 percent overall and hit 4-of-12 from behind the arc, while the Seahawks hit 48 percent overall but just 1-of-6 from three-point range.
The Seahawks' momentum continued out of the break as they established their largest lead of the contest, 47-35 before the Knights answered back.
Dunn and sophomore
Bassel Saliba Jr. each struck with 3-pointers to kickstart an 18-0 run, which resulted in a 53-47 lead for the Knights with 10 minutes to go. Bishop capped the scoring surge by draining a corner 3-pointer.
Herenda added, "We also got some great performances off of the bench from Devon and BJ hit a huge three when we were really searching."
The Knights stellar three-point shooting served as the catalyst as they sustained their edge and built their largest lead of the night, 62-53, after Jenkins canned a trifecta from the wing with 3:46 to play.
Leading by three in the final minute, the Knights took care of business at the free throw line as Powell and Jenkins combined to hit all four of their free throws and seal the win.
"Just very proud of how our guys just hung around and never gave in," Herenda concluded. "We have just played 14 of our first 20 games on the road against some very good teams and to win here in Staten Island is always very difficult. Now we have to go home and hold court at the Rothman Center."
The Knights return to Hackensack for their next three games and first up is Mount St. Mary's this Saturday, February 1 at 3:30 p.m.
