BROOKLYN, N.Y. – In a battle for second place in the Northeast Conference, the Long Island University men's basketball team (13-15, 9-4 NEC) trailed early, but bounced back and staved off several second-half threats to defeat Fairleigh Dickinson University (11-16, 7-5 NEC), 62-58, on Saturday afternoon at the Steinberg Wellness Center. LIU was led by 21 points from Malachi Davis and 19 points from Jamal Fuller, as the Sharks picked up a third straight win.

LIU remains two games behind Central Connecticut State University (11-2) atop the NEC standings.

"The first thing for me and my team is establishing a home court," said head coach Rod Strickland. "I think every time we step on this court, we want teams to know that it's going be tough and we're going to get victories here. And then it was a chance to be in second place by ourselves and I think the goal is to be No. 1. … Being able to be resilient and win these type of games, I think the group is coming together."

The Sharks jumped out to an early 4-1 lead just shy of three minutes in after a jumper by Terell Strickland. In his first game back after missing two games due to injury, Strickland finished with nine points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

However, LIU's lead was short-lived as FDU held the Sharks without a point for more than eight minutes and rattled off a 15-0 run to take a 16-4 lead at the under-12 media time out of the first half.

The Sharks clawed back as Davis drained back-to-back 3's with 5:36 left in the first to spark a 15-3 run that tied the game 23-23, with 2:28 until halftime. LIU trailed 25-23 at the break.

Davis, who was held scoreless for the first 14 minutes of the game, posted his 11th 20-point game of the season.

FDU opened the second half by expanding the lead to as many as seven points two times, but LIU bounced back again. With 13:02 to play Fuller hit his second of back-to-back 3's forcing FDU to call a time out. Moments later, the Sharks opened up their largest lead of the game to that point, 39-34, after Davis connected on an off-balance floater. The Sharks never trailed the rest of the way, leading by as many as eight points in the final minutes.

With 2:02 to play, FDU cut the deficit to two, 57-55, after a pair of free throws by Terrence Brown. But moments later, with the shot clock running down, Fuller hit a fadeaway right-wing 3 to put LIU up 60-55.

Then, in the final minute, Brown hit two more free throws, pulling FDU within two again, 60-58. With the game still hanging in the balance, Davis knifed through two defenders for a game-sealing layup with 8.1 seconds left.

In total, LIU outrebounded FDU 34-26 and shot 43.4 percent from the field, 31.8 percent from 3-point range, and nine of 11 from the free throw line. The Sharks held the Knights to 41.3-percent shooting and 5-for-19 from 3 (26.3%).

FDU was led by Brown who netted a game-high 22 points.

LIU returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 22, at Le Moyne College. Opening tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. Television coverage will be available on NEC Front Row.