Fairleigh Dickinson: 2023 Northeast Men's Basketball Representative

Fairleigh Dickinson became the first team to punch its ticket to the 2023 NCAA tournament on Saturday -- and the Knights did it without winning their conference tournament.

Merrimack, the 1-seed in the Northeast Conference tournament, is still in the midst of its four-year reclassification process from Division II to Division I and is therefore ineligible for the NCAA tournament. However, the NEC announced last summer it would allow Merrimack to participate in the conference tournament this season. Merrimack winning the regular-season title meant the championship game runner-up would advance to the NCAA tournament should the Warriors make it to the title game.

That situation played out on Saturday. With Merrimack beating Sacred Heart in the first semifinal on Saturday, it meant the winner of the second semifinal between Fairleigh Dickinson and St. Francis (Pa.) would earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Fairleigh Dickinson, the 2-seed in the tournament, knocked off 3-seed St. Francis 70-50. Demetre Roberts led the way with 18 points and five assists, and Ansley Almonor (15 points) and Grant Singleton (12 points) also scored in double figures.

Merrimack and Fairleigh Dickinson will still face each other in the NEC tournament title game on Tuesday (7 p.m., ESPN2).

It's a huge accomplishment for first-year head coach Tobin Anderson, who took over a Fairleigh Dickinson team that finished 4-22 last season. Anderson, who had been the head coach at Division II St. Thomas Aquinas since 2013 before taking over at FDU, guided the Knights to a 15-win improvement.

The NEC's situation is similar to what happened in the ASUN tournament last season, with Bellarmine winning the conference tournament despite being ineligible for the NCAA tournament due to its reclassification status. Jacksonville State was the regular-season champion, so the Gamecocks earned the automatic bid even though they lost to Jacksonville in the conference tournament semifinals.

Fairleigh Dickinson: 2018-19 Northeast Men's Basketball Champions

LORETTO, Pennsylvania -- Darnell Edge scored 21 points, Kaleb Bishop and Jahlil Jenkins added 20 points apiece, and Fairleigh Dickinson earned its second trip to the NCAA tournament in four years with an 85-76 victory over St. Francis (Pa.) in the Northeastern Conference Tournament championship on Tuesday night.

The second-seeded Knights (20-13) shot 64 percent (30 of 47) from the field and beat the top-seeded Red Flash (18-14) on the road for the second time this season. All five starters for the Knights scored in double figures. Elyjah Williams and Mike Holloway Jr. scored 12 points each for Fairleigh Dickinson, which used a 17-8 run to close the first half to take control and never let St. Francis get closer than three in the second half.

Bishop made 8 of his 10 shots for the Knights, including all three of his 3-point attempts, and added a team-high 10 rebounds.

The Red Flash were searching for their first NCAA appearance since 1991 and just the second in school history but couldn't slow the Knights down when it mattered.

Jamaal King led St. Francis with 21 points and eight assists. Isaiah Blackmon finished with 13 points, but the Red Flash made just 4 of 17 free throws while Fairleigh Dickinson converted 18 of 20 at the line.

UP NEXT

Fairleigh Dickinson: A likely No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament

St. Francis: A spot in the National Invitational Tournament as a reward for winning the NEC's regular season title.

Fairleigh Dickinson: 2015-16 Northeast Men's Basketball Champions

NEW YORK -- Fairleigh Dickinson coach Greg Herenda gave a timeline on how his team was thinking of winning the Northeast Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"In July it would have been a stretch," he said of a team that was coming off a losing season that saw them drop 15 straight at one point. "In November, December it wasn't a shock to think that anymore. We put Dayton on the board in July."

Dayton and the First Four is where the Knights are most likely headed after beating Wagner 87-79 on Tuesday night to win the NEC Tournament.

"Hey, it's a night in the lights of America and an opportunity to win," he said. "If we win a First Four game, a No. 1 seed has to go down sometime. It's going to happen. I'm not predicting it, but if you come out and guard us we'll drive by you and if you don't we'll shoot over you. I don't care who we play."

That was the formula for success against Wagner.

Darian Anderson scored 28 points and Earl Potts Jr. had 27 to lead FDU to its fifth NCAA Tournament bid and first since 2005.

Anderson had 18 points in the second half and Potts had 16 when the Knights took control on the way to their first NCAA bid since 2005, and the first under Herenda, who is in his third season.

Potts has the same idea as his coach in terms of the NCAA Tournament.

"Whoever we play is going to have a hard time," he said. "We can go and win a couple of games. We're just not going to show up."

Potts scored FDU's first nine points of the second half as it took the lead for good on his 3-pointer that gave the second-seeded Knights (18-14) the lead at 51-47.

They were ahead by as many as 10 points, the first time on a 3 by Marques Townes with 4:15 to play.

Anderson was 8 of 16 from the field, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range, while Potts was 11 of 19, including 4 of 8 from long range. The Knights were 9 of 19 from 3-point range.

"We didn't play good defense in the first half but we got it right in the second half," Potts said.

Corey Henson led the top-seeded Seahawks (23-9) with 24 points, while Michael Carey had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Wagner finished 4 of 24 from 3-point range and 21 of 33 from the free throw line.

"We just didn't make shots and their effort kicked up a notch and ours didn't," Carey said. "I think it was effort."

The win was the fifth straight for the Knights and it ended Wagner's seven-game winning streak. The teams split the season series with Potts hitting a 3 at the buzzer to give the Knights an overtime win at Wagner.

The game was played before a packed, sellout crowd of about 2,100 at Wagner's Spiro Sports Center and the FDU fans in attendance rushed the court at the final buzzer.

"I knew our crowd would storm the floor," Anderson said. "We knew we had to make a lot of adjustments from last year to make this happen and we ended up doing so."

The first half started and ended about as different as possible.

The Seahawks opened the game on a 13-2 run, getting the ball inside the Knights' 2/3 zone for shots down low. FDU got as close as four points before the Seahawks again scored inside often to take a 31-20 lead with 3:35 left in the half.

The Knights, taking advantage of Wagner turnovers, closed the half on a 13-4 run to cut Wagner's lead to 35-33. Potts closed it with a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left.

Both teams struggled from 3-point range in the first half, Wagner making 3 of 11 and the Knights just slightly better at 3 for 10.

"They made a couple of tough 3s and a couple of bombs," Wagner coach Bashir Mason said. "There's no way I'm going to let our season be defined by one game."

TIP-INS:

FDU: The Knights are the third-youngest roster in Division I with two redshirt juniors and all sophomores and freshmen. ... FDU last played in the NEC title game in 2006. ... FDU's NCAA appearances were 1985, 1988, 1998 and 2005. ... The Knights reached the title game with wins over St. Francis, Pa. and Mount St. Mary's. ... FDU's Director of Basketball Operations is Pete Lappas, the son of former Villanova and Massachusetts coach Steve Lappas.

Wagner: This was the first time Wagner hosted the championship game since 2003. ... The Seahawks reached the title game with wins over Robert Morris and LIU Brooklyn. ... The 87 points were the most allowed by Wagner this season.

UP NEXT:

FDU: NCAA Tournament.

Wagner: NIT.