HACKENSACK, N.J. - FDU men's basketball eclipsed the .500 plateau Thursday in the first road Northeast Conference game of the 2022-23 campaign when the Burgundy and Blue handedly defeated St. Francis Brooklyn, 76-57 - the first victory for FDU (9-8, 2-0 NEC) over the Terriers since the 2018-19 season.

Welcoming LIU to the banks of the Hackensack Saturday, the Knights look to extend the home win streak to three and make it four-straight overall when they take-on the Sharks (2-13, 0-3 NEC) at 1 p.m. live on NEC Front Row.

LIU - now led by first-year head coach Rod Strickland after a sudden coaching change this past summer - played a non-conference schedule that did not result in any win against Division I opponents. Further, the Sharks, selected eighth in the NEC preseason poll, sits tied for last in the nine-team league with the Terriers as the pair are yet to defeat an NEC club this season.

Despite their misfortunes this year, LIU sophomore transfer guard Marko Maletic has emerged as one of the top overall scorers in the NEC averaging 17.0 points per game (second) over six starts in 14 games played for Strickland and the Sharks. Jacob Johnson has also been a mainstay in the backcourt for LIU, sitting second in the conference in minutes only behind FDU's Demetre Roberts with an average of 35.0 per night.

On the other side of the court, FDU has slots to celebrate with sophomore forward Ansley Almonor continuing to ball-out on a nightly basis with the second-year Knight from Spring Valley, N.Y. pacing the field in scoring, averaging over 22 points in NEC play. The 6-foot-6 Almonor has dropped double-figures in five of his last six games played, aided by his three-ball which was put on full display as he'd miss just one of his seven attempts from the behind the arc at The ARC on Pratt's campus where the game was played.

All-time FDU is 56-58 against the Sharks with Saturday's tilt the first between the two schools, separated by 17 miles, with the second and final coming on February 9 at the Steinberg Wellness Center in Brooklyn.

The 2022-23 men's basketball season is presented by Bogota Savings Bank.