HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team is set to close out the regular season on Saturday at Mount St. Mary's in its final tune-up before next Wednesday's Northeast Conference Tournament.
The Knights (8-9 NEC) currently occupy the fifth spot in the NEC standings, holding a one-game lead over the Mountaineers (6-10 NEC). With a victory on Saturday, the Knights will secure the No. 5 seed and travel to Long Island University in Wednesday's quarterfinal. If the Knights fall on Saturday, they will slip to the sixth seed and play third-seed Sacred Heart on Wednesday in Fairfield, Connecticut.
FDU Knights (10-18, 8-9 NEC) at Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers (11-19, 6-10 NEC)
Saturday, Feb. 29 – 4:00 PM
Knott Arena - Emmitsburg, Md.
Watch: NEC Front Row
Notes: KNIGHTS |
Mount St. Mary's
Links: Live Stats |
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All-Time Series
FDU leads 33-28
at Mount...14-15
Last Five..5-0
Streak...W5
First Meeting..Mount 97, FDU 65 (2/15/56)
Last Meeting..FDU 85, Mount 75 (2/1/20)
An enormous first-half performance propelled the Knights to a wire-to-wire, 85-75 victory over Mount St. Mary's on Feb.1. The Knights locked down the Mountaineers over the first 20 minutes, holding the opposition to six field goals and a season-low 17 first-half points. FDU freshman guard
Devon Dunn registered the best game of his young career, scoring a career-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the victory. Six Knights scored in double figures including junior forward
Elyjah Williams who registered his second double-double of the campaign with 12 points and 13 rebounds. The Knights led by as many as 34 points in the win and shot 54.9 percent overall, while draining 1 0-of-17 from three-point range. They also enjoyed a 32-27 advantage on the glass. Jalen Gibbs poured in 23 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, while Damian Chong Qui added 16 points for the Mount in the loss. After their dismal first-half shooting effort, the Mountaineers shot 52.9 percent in the second half.
FDU Last Time Out
The Knights scored the final 10 points of the game to stun Bryant 74-72 on senior night at Stratis Arena on Thursday night. Trailing by eight with 1:46 to play, the Knights turned the game upside down.
Freshman guard Devon Dunn made a pair of highlight-reel layups, which sandwiched a three-pointer from junior guard Xzavier Malone Key. Then, junior guard Jahlil Jenkins came up with a steal and finished off the break with the game-winning bucket with nine seconds to go. Prior to Jenkins' field goal, the Knights had trailed for the entirety (39:49) of the game. This is the Knights' sixth straight win over the Bulldogs. Malone-Key's 16 points paced the Knights, who shot 60 percent in the second half for the second time in as many games. The Burgundy and Blue surrendered a season-high 21 offensive rebounds and were out-rebounded 46-29 in total but battled defensively and held the Bulldogs (14-16, 6-11 NEC) to 38.5 percent from the field and just 5-of-23 from three-point range.
After scoring just two points in the first half, Jenkins hit four of his five shots in the second half to finish with 13 points in the win. Junior forward Elyjah Williams joined the aforementioned duo in double figures and filled up the box score with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Coach Herenda's Thoughts
"That was crazy – I still don't know exactly how we did it but we did," said Greg Herenda following the dramatic win. "Our guys just never quit and it has paid off for us so many times here but never like that. The roar from our fans when Jahlil's layup went in was the loudest I have heard the Rothman Center. That was special.
"On senior night, it was our freshmen that stepped up when we needed a lift the most. Devon, Danny and Brandon Rush rose to the occasion and helped Kaleb make his senior night an extremely memorable one. That was truly one for the ages."
Next Up
The defending champion Knights will travel to either third-seeded Sacred Heart or fourth-seeded LIU for the NEC Tournament Quarterfinals next Wednesday, March 4. Tip-off time is yet to be determined.
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