Box Score

The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team snapped its 16-game losing streak with an exciting 66-63 win at Bryant Thursday evening at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, RI.  With the victory, the Knights improve to 2-18 (1-8 NEC) on the season, while the Bulldogs fall to 2-19 (1-8 NEC) overall. 

Junior Lonnie Robinson (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach), who played all 40 minutes, tied a career-high with 25 points as he knocked down a career best nine free throws on 11 attempts.  He also added six rebounds.  Senior Briahn Smith (Detroit, MI/Madison) added 12 points as he tied a career-best with four three-pointers including two big ones in the second half, while grabbing a game-high seven rebounds.  Graduate student George Goode (Raytown, MO/Raytown South) chipped in 11 points, six rebounds, a team-high three assists and a game-high two blocked shots before fouling out with eight seconds to go.

The Knights, who led 36-27 at halftime, fought off the Bulldogs, who tied the game at 52 with 7:14 to go.  On FDU's next possession with the shot clock winding down, Smith hit a huge three from the left wing to give the Knights the lead for good at 55-52.

FDU shot 46.7 percent (21-of-45) from the floor for the game including 6-of-18 from three-point range.  They also knocked down 18-of-24 (75 percent) free throws including 9-of-13 in the second half and 5-of-7 over the final minute of play.  The Knights registered 13 assists on their 21 made baskets and turned the ball over 12 times.

FDU held Bryant to only 39.0 percent (23-of-59) from the field including 28.8 percent (8-of-28) from behind the arc.  The Bulldogs only made 9-of-14 free throws and turned it over 11 times.

Both teams grabbed 34 rebounds with Bryant holding an 11-5 edge on the offensive glass which resulted in 16 second-chance points to the Knights' 10.

The Knights jumped out to an early 9-5 lead before the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run prompting Head Coach Greg Vetrone to call a 30-second timeout with 13:22 remaining in the first half.

FDU responded by taking a pair of one-point leads before the Bulldogs went ahead 19-17 with 8:22 to go before halftime.

After calling their second 30-second timeout of the first half, the Knights got going as an acrobatic layup by Robinson triggered an 11-0 run which featured six-straight free throws.  Smith's three from the right wing capped the run to give FDU a 28-19 lead with 3:59 left in the first half.

Bryant scored the next four points to cut the lead to five before a Mouhamed Lo (Port Chester, NY/Port Chester ) baseline jumper and Smith's second three of the half put the Knights up 10 at 33-23.

After a Bulldogs' bucket, Robinson converted a three-point play to give FDU its largest lead of the game at 36-25 before Bryant scored with 55 seconds left in the half to cut the deficit to 36-27 heading into the break.

The Knights shot 46.2 percent (12-of-26) over the first 20 minutes but made only 3-of-11 from downtown.  However, they made 9-of-11 free throws and assisted on eight of their 12 baskets and only turned the ball over five times.

The Bulldogs shot only 35.7 percent (10-of-28) from the field and only 3-of-12 from three-point range, while making 4-of-6 free throws.  FDU out-rebounded Bryant, 19-15, in the first half and forced six Bulldogs' miscues.

Five minutes into the second half, Bryant was able to cut the Knights' lead to 42-37, but a layup by sophomore Mathias Seilund (Dragoer, Denmark/Falkonergaardens Gymnasium) and a 20-foot jumper by senior Sam Fernley (Sheffield, England/Silverdale) put FDU up nine at 46-37 with 13:23 to play.

The Bulldogs continued to fight back as a three-pointer by Frankie Dobbs cut the deficit to three at 48-45, but a pair of Goode free throws put the Knights up seven, 52-45, with 10:13 remaining in the contest.

Bryant then scored seven unanswered points over the next three minutes to tie the game at 52 with 7:14 to go.  After Smith's three gave FDU the lead for good, Dobbs hit two free throws to make it a one-point game.

Seilund's turnaround jumper with the shot clock about to expire put the Knights up six at 60-54 with 4:17 left on the clock.

After the Bulldogs cut it to four at the 2:56 mark, Robinson sunk a pair of free throws to put FDU back up six at 62-56 with 57 seconds left.
A layup by Corey Maynard cut the lead to 62-58 which ended a scoring drought of over two minutes for Bryant. 

Fernley missed the front end of a one-and-one with 43 seconds left, and six seconds later, Dobbs missed an uncontested layup to allow Goode to corral the rebound and get fouled.  He made 1-of-2 free throws to give the Knights a 63-58 lead with 36 seconds to go.

Dobbs was fouled at the other end on the Bulldogs next possession as his two free throws cut the lead to 63-60 with 31 seconds left.  Seilund was then fouled four seconds later and made the first free throw before missing the second one long to extend the lead to 64-60.

With eight seconds left, Bryant's Claybrin McMath converted an old-fashion three-point play to cut the lead to one at 64-63. 

Robinson was then fouled with six seconds left and calmly sank both free throws with a timeout called in between by the Knights to set up their defense.

Dobbs, who had 17 second-half points including three buckets from downtown, missed the potential game-tying three long with great defense on him at the horn to allow FDU to escape with the 66-63 road victory.

“Lonnie Robinson (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) was phenomenal tonight,” Vetrone said.  “We stuck together as a team when it could have been very easy for us to collapse.  We were without (Melquan) Bolding and (Lonnie) Hayes and found a way to win.  It is nice to finally get back into the win column.”

Dobbs led Bryant with 22 points as he went 4-of-10 from three-point range.  Alex Francis came off the bench to score 16 points and grab five rebounds for the Bulldogs.

The Knights will have a quick turnaround when they continue their road trip with a drive to New Britain, CT to take on Central Connecticut State this Saturday. Tip-off for the NEC contest is slated for 3:30 p.m.