Anthony Covino Photo
Junior Kaleb Bishop (#12) takes a hook shot over Saint Francis’ Keith Braxton (#13). Bishop, a 6-8 junior from Paterson, N.J., finished with 9 points and 6 rebounds.
By JEN MALTI
Sports Writer
The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights suffered a disappointing Northeast Conference loss against the first-place Red Flash of Saint Francis (Pa.), 87-62 Thursday night at home. The game was broadcast nationally on the CBS Sports Network. The Knights fall to 12-13 overall and 7-6 in the NEC. Saint Francis stays in first with a 13-11 overall record, 9-4 in the NEC.
The Knights have won 6 of their last 8 games. Despite that, the Rothman Center felt very somber and was not nearly at capacity. The Knights’ offense was nowhere to be found as they shot 25-59 (42.4%) from the field, their worst performance in shooting since they shot 16-54 (29.6%) in a 67-49 loss. The crowd at the game was quieted by the lack of action on FDU’s end. The energy during the game was low.
“It was deja vu, except we were on the other end of the winning stick,” FDU coach Greg Herenda said. “We went out there and played a great game against Saint Francis and won and they came and did the exact same to us tonight. It was unfortunate because we have been playing good basketball, but we just never had it from the beginning of the game we started off really slow offensively and defensively and we just never got a rhythm on either side of the ball, but the credit goes to Saint Francis. They were ready, they were prepared and we just had to take a big slice of humble pie tonight.”
The Knights’ offense struggled to score in the first half with 10-27 (37%) shooting from the field and 1-9 (11%) from the 3-point line. The Knights, going into the half, were down 41-23 looking for answers on offense.
In the second half, poor shooting continued as they shot 15-32 (46.8%) from the field and 5-8 (62.5%) off the 3-point line. FDU came into the game as the No. 3 scoring team in the conference and first in 3-point shooting.
Saint Francis junior guard Keith Braxton had 21 points and 8 rebounds. Senior guard, Jamal King had 15 points.
FDU senior forward Mike Holloway Jr. had a season-high of 22 points, climbing to No. 23 on the FDU all-time scoring list. Sophomore guard Jahlil Jenkins added 9 points. FDU’s leading scorer of the season, senior guard Darnell Edge, only had 8 points.
The Knights look to bounce back on Saturday, Feb. 16, against NEC foe Bryant in the Rothman Center at 4:30 p.m.
