FDU ESCAPES FIRST 4
Knights rally to make school history with NCAA tourney win
DAYTON, Ohio — Darnell Edge threw the ball to the roof. His teammates swarmed the star senior near their bench. Coach Greg Herenda disappeared in a euphoric bear hug from his big man, Mike Holloway Jr. Chants of “F-D-U” rang out.
Fairleigh Dickinson is moving on in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, and the Knights did it their way — by digging a big early hole but never blinking, and responding to adversity in the same manner they have all season.
“It’s the first time in the 77-year history of Fairleigh Dickinson that we’ve won an NCAA Tournament game. That’s history,” Herenda said, choking up after FDU’s comefrom-behind 82-76 victory over fellow 16-seed Prairie View A&M in the First Four at Dayton Arena. “And it’s really overwhelming from where we came to where we are now.
“I love Dayton. I loved it the last time. And I love it more [now].”
In Herenda’s first two seasons at the Teaneck, N.J., school, FDU went a combined 18-42 before reaching the tournament in 2016. It got back this year after starting 1-4 in the Northeast Conference, but it will stay longer this time. The Knights will face No. 1 Gonzaga on Thursday night in Salt Lake City in a West Region first-round game.
Early on, it didn’t look promising. The NEC champion trailed 19-6 early, and Herenda was admittedly having flashbacks to the 2016 First Four, when his team lost by 31 points to Florida Gulf Coast. But his comments on Monday proved prescient. He had said he felt better about his team this year because of its experience. The 2016 team didn’t have senior leadership. This one did.
Though Prairie View (22-13) was the better team over the first 20 minutes, hitting 8of-12 attempts from 3-point range and forcing 10 turnovers, FDU (21-13) wasn’t going away. Edge wouldn’t allow it. He scored 18 of his game-high 33 points before half- time, giving the Knights momentum with a big 3pointer at the end of the half to cut the deficit to seven. “Without Darnell, we would not have been able to come back,” said Herenda, 11 months after he was hospitalized for 15 days in San Antonio with two significant blood clots while attending the Final Four. His team took another big punch early in the second half, going down 13 again, but FDU wouldn’ t stay down. It countered, and kept countering, refusing to be denied. Sophomore Jahlil Jenkins was the best player on the floor after halftime, scoring 20 of his 22 points, keying several runs. He spearheaded the clinching one, a 14-2 spurt that pushed the FDU lead to nine with 1:32 to go. He scored seven points in that stretch, including the goahead 3-pointer with 4:22 remaining. Holloway followed with a layup inside and Edge sank a 3-pointer.
“Jahlil Jenkins has the biggest heart in Ohio right now,” Herenda said of his point guard, who also had six assists and four rebounds. “As a sophomore, he took over the game in the second half.”
It wasn’t over, however. Prairie View answered with a 10-3 burst, hitting three 3-pointers on a night it sank 15-of-28 from deep, and was down just two with 45.9 seconds to go. But Holloway scored inside on a night he committed five turnovers, and Edge hit two free throws with 17.9 seconds left to ice it.
Soon, the celebration was on. Fairleigh Dickinson had the first big moment of March.
“It was just a great feeling for me, being here three years ago and losing by over 30 points. And then coming back this year and being able to get a win,” said Edge, who hit seven 3pointers. “It’s history. I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with any other team.”