SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team dropped an overtime thriller, 73-72, at Bryant University on Saturday afternoon.
 
With nine seconds remaining in overtime, Darnell Edge stole Bryant's inbound pass and found Earl Potts Jr., who raced ahead for the go-ahead layup, which briefly gave the Knights a 72-71 lead.
 
On the ensuing possession, the NEC's leading scorer Nisre Zouzoua, delivered the heroics for Bryant (8-15, 5-5 NEC) as he pulled up just inside the 3-point line and nailed the long two-pointer, which resulted in the game-winner with 2.4 ticks to go. The Knights had one final chance but Darian Anderson's half-court heave ricocheted off the mark as the final horn sounded.
 
The Knights (10-11, 8-2 NEC) shot 39.7 percent in the game but were unable to find the touch from 3-point range. After knocking down 5-of-15 (33.3%) in the first half, the team went 1-for-11 from downtown combined in the second half and overtime.
 
The team was able to compensate for its struggles from behind the arc by netting a 16-of-19 (84.2%) performance at the free throw line and scoring 30 points in the paint.
 
Anderson paced the Knights with 19 points, while Potts Jr. finished 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including four 3-pointers.

Following the game head coach Greg Herenda said, "That was a great college basketball game. We made a great stop to finish regulation and made a great steal late to go ahead, but Zouzoua hit the big shot that decided it. I am very proud of how hard our guys battled but we just didn't do enough of the little things throughout the game. We lost the loose ball and the 50/50 rebound game and that eventually came back to bite us."

"We again split on a tough road trip but we had two victories in our grasp and we just couldn't get the final stop to seal the deal. We will learn from today and continue to improve -- this is what we do." 
 
The Knights fell behind 8-2 in the early going before they quickly tied the game with back-to-back treys by Anderson and Edge.
 
Potts Jr. buried a stepback 3-pointer from long range to give the Knights their first lead of the game, 25-24, with just under six minutes to play in the half.  All seven of the junior swingman's shots in the half came from behind the arc and he connected on three. Potts Jr. also nabbed a team-high four rebounds in the stanza.
 
The game remained tight through the rest of the half as the lead changed hands three times in the final two minutes. Edge put the Knights in front with a three-point play but Zouzoua answered with one of his own for Bryant. Then, Anderson splashed a difficult floater in the paint to put the Knights on top before a Sebastian Townes free throw eventually sent the game to the break tied at 37-37.
 
Anderson matched Potts Jr. for the team-high nine points in the first half, while Edge had eight and Stephan Jiggetts had seven. Both teams shot exactly 14-of-30 (46.7%) from the floor and 33.3 percent from 3-point range. FDU nailed 5-of-15 from behind the arc, while Bryant connected on 3-of-9 in the half.
 
Zouzoua, who entered the game as the NEC's leading scorer, led all players with 12 points at the break and made all five of his free throw attempts.
 
In the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Bulldogs connected on three treys in a row but the Knights weathered the storm and received a huge three-point play by Mike Holloway, who nabbed an offensive rebound and took the hoop and the harm.
 
With just under four minutes to go, the Bulldogs stretched out to a six-point lead but Potts Jr. answered for the Knights with a trey to make it a 65-62 game. Before Potts Jr.'s 3-pointer, the Knights had missed their first seven from behind the arc in the half.
 
Bryant maintained the advantage until 15.4 seconds to go when Holloway nabbed an offensive rebound and drew the foul. The sophomore forward came up clutch by draining both free throws to tie the game at 68-68.
 
The Bulldogs had two quality chances on their final possession but Zouzoua and Townes could not connect and the game proceeded to overtime.
 
After Bryant had led for most of the extra period, Anderson brought the Knights within one with a difficult layup, 71-70, with under 30 seconds to play.
 
Despite the momentum-swinging steal by Edge and bucket by Potts Jr., Zouzoua finalized his game-high, 25 point-performance by hitting the winner.
 
Freshman guard Adam Grant was the lone other Bulldog in double figures with 19 points, while Marcel Pettway added eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Freshman forward Kaleb Bishop tallied his first double-digit rebounding effort with 10 boards in the loss to go along with his five points. Holloway and Jiggetts finished with 11 points apiece.
 
Bryant held a 42-38 edge on the glass but the Knights won the turnover battle 14-11 and points in the paint 30-24.
 
The Knights now head home for three straight games beginning this Thursday, February 2 against Sacred Heart. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Rothman Center.