HACKENSACK, N.J. – Led by a career-high 31 points from junior guard
Jahlil Jenkins, the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team rolled over Wagner 106-73 inside the Rothman Center on Thursday night.
Five Knights scored in double figures as the home team stretched a 13-point halftime lead to 40 points en route to their largest offensive output against a Division I opponent in 30 years. In addition, the Burgundy and Blue hit a program-record 16 3-pointers in the victory.
The 106 points are the most scored by the Knights in a game since they amassed 111 against NCAA Division III FDU-Florham in 2018 and their most against a Division I opponent since they logged 106 against Central Connecticut in 1990.
The Knights (7-16, 5-7 NEC), who extended their win streak over the Seahawks to four, have now defeated Wagner by a total of 71 points in their last two meetings in Hackensack.
Jenkins was remarkably efficient, connecting on 12-of-15 (80 percent) overall including a career-high 5-of-7 from three-point range. The West Virginia product added seven assists and five steals to his ledger in the one-sided win. In total, the Knights nabbed a season-high 13 steals and 26 assists. The 26 helpers are the Knights' most against a Division I foe since 2006.
Joining Jenkins in the offensive onslaught was junior forward
Elyjah Williams who made all seven of his shots and finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Sophomore
Brandon Powell also tallied 16 points, while freshmen
Devon Dunn and
Brandon Rush netted 14 and 13 points, respectively. In addition, senior forward
Kaleb Bishop scored nine points, grabbed nine boards and dished out a career-best five assists.
Tyrone Nesby paced the Seahawks (5-18, 2-10 NEC) with 25 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
"What I am most proud of tonight is that we had six players with higher than a 3.0 grade-point average honored tonight and two guys that were decimal points away," said
Greg Herenda following the victory. "There are so many great student-athletes here at FDU and I am blessed to be able to be around them everyday."
"Tonight was one of those rare nights when almost everything we did went well for us and our guys really deserved it all. Jahlil was insane and everyone else followed suit. To have 26 assists and make 16 threes are both monumental milestones but the greatest thing about tonight was just how hard we played against a team that always plays so hard."
A 4-for-7 start from downtown propelled the Knights to a 24-15 lead just over 10 minutes into the contest. In addition, the Burgundy and Blue made their first 10 two-pointers of the night. Two minutes later, Bishop drained a pair of free throws to give the Knights their first double-digit lead, 28-18.
The hot shooting continued as the Burgundy and Blue posted a 63 percent overall clip and hit 7-of-15 from behind the arc en route to a 45-32 halftime lead. Williams made all five of his shots in the stanza, totaling 11 points with four rebounds. Jenkins matched Williams' first-half point total, while contributing four assists and three steals.
Jenkins came out of the break firing, hitting 5-of-6 as the Knights' lead ballooned to 25 points, 64-39 with 13:02 to go. The junior guard, who notched his career-high 26 points with 11:08 to play, single-handedly outscored the Seahawks 12-11 over that span.
Dunn took the reins from Jenkins by rattling off 11 points over the next four minutes as the Burgundy and Blue built a 40-point cushion, 91-51, with 6:33 to play.
"Quietly, we have been playing good basketball for the last seven games and I like the fact that we are doing that at this time of the year," Herenda concluded. "We are practicing great and tonight it really showed. Now we have to get on a bus and head west."
The Knights look to continue the momentum this weekend when they travel to Moon Township, Pa. to square off with first-place Robert Morris this Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
