FDU's 1st NCAA Tourney Win Is Bittersweet For Coach Herenda

TEANECK, NJ — The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team made history Tuesday night by winning the first NCAA Tournament game in the program's history.

Coach Greg Herenda said in a post game press conference that the "perseverance, grit, and heart" the team played with was "incredible."

The same could be said of Herenda. Nearly a year ago he was fighting for his life against blood clots. But he, like his team, persevered.

"I just wanted to leave the hospital," Herenda told ESPN after the win. "I didn't have a dream like this. I just wanted to leave alive and get back to work. Now it's very surreal. There are so many coaches out there that deserve this same feeling. I'm fortunate to have it."

Herenda said in a post-game press conference the support of the fans was incredible leading up the game, which was one of the First Four games that pitted 16 seeds against one another for the right to join the field of 64.

"Our fan bus crew, our cheerleaders and everyone that made the trek to Dayton were awesome," Herenda said. "They all never gave up on us and I cannot tell you how much that meant to our team. At the end of the game, we owned that building."

Senior guard Darnell Edge had a career-high 33 points. Sophomore Jahlil Jenkins had 22 points.

FDU's next game will be against No. 1-seed Gonzaga Thursday at 7:30 p.m. on TruTV.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com