EMMITSBURG, Md. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team extended its win streak to three by defeating Mount St. Mary's 83-77 at Knott Arena in Saturday's regular-season finale.
With the win, the Knights clinch the No. 5 seed in this year's Northeast Conference Tournament and will travel to Long Island University next Wednesday, March 4 to battle the Sharks in the quarterfinals.
NEC Tournament Central
The Knights also clinched their fifth-straight season with a .500 or better record in conference play.
"That was just a great team effort in a game where we literally needed every player to finish that game with a victory," said
Greg Herenda after the win. "I truly believe that Oscar (Okeke) literally changed the game for us and I am so happy for him. He works so hard everyday and he never complains. "Obviously, Jahlil and Xzavier were tremendous all game long and when you add Devon and
Brandon Rush to the mix, we have a lot of firepower," Herenda continued. "This is a very difficult building to win in and we just found a way to do just that."
Redshirt junior
Xzavier Malone-Key and junior guard
Jahlil Jenkins spearheaded the Knights' (11-18, 9-9 NEC) attack by pouring in 24 and 21 points, respectively in the victory. Malone-Key was red hot, draining 9-of-12 from the field and all three of his three-pointers, while Jenkins added five assists and four rebounds on the afternoon.
"Now, it's tournament time and there is nothing better in the world," Herenda continued. "This is our only road to the NCAA Tournament and we start in Brooklyn and we will have our hands full. At midnight, it will be March -- there is nothing more that really needs to be said."
In addition, junior
Elyjah Williams scored 15 points and freshman
Devon Dunn tallied 11 as the Knights shot 51.9 percent overall and made 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from behind the arc. Despite playing without the team's leading rebounder, senior forward
Kaleb Bishop, the Burgundy and Blue out-rebounded the Mountaineers (11-20, 7-11 NEC) 36-28 in the contest.
Damian Chong Qui's 18 points paced the Mount, who made 44.8 percent overall and 20-of-24 (83.3 percent) at the free throw line in the loss.
With Malone-Key leading the way, the Burgundy and Blue held a 19-14 lead with 6:30 to play in the half. A driving layup by Malone-Key, followed by Dunn's second three-pointer of the day, provided the Knights with a 32-24 lead with two minutes remaining in the stanza. Dunn finished 3-of-6 from long-range and contributed four rebounds.
The Burgundy and Blue continued to surge into the break as Jenkins drained a three-pointer just shy of the horn and the Knights carried a 37-27 lead into halftime.
Malone-Key hit 5-of-6 from the field and led all players at the break with 11 points, while Jenkins filled up the stat sheet with seven points, five assists and four rebounds. The Knights shot 55.6 percent overall in the half, made 6-of-11 from three-point range and held the Mount to 41.7 percent.
The Knights led for the duration of the second half, eventually establishing their largest lead 12 points (61-49), after Jenkins canned a three-pointer with 9:12 to go.
Wednesday's quarterfinal marks a rematch of the Knights' 2018 semifinal contest at LIU, where the then-Blackbirds prevailed with a thrilling 78-77 win.
