NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – Sophomore forward Kaleb Bishop scored a career-high 18 points but the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team was edged 66-65 by Central Connecticut State at Detrick Gymnasium on Thursday night.
 
The Knights (5-13, 2-5 NEC) battled to overcome a nine-point, second-half deficit but ultimately came up just shy as CCSU's junior center Deion Bute's dunk with three seconds remaining put the home team in front for good. The loss snaps the Knights' seven-game win streak over the Blue Devils.
 
The Blue Devils (10-10, 3-4 NEC) led for the first 39:50 of the game until Bishop calmly drained a pair at the line to give the Knights their first lead of the contest, 65-64, with 10 seconds to play. After a timeout, the Blue Devils drew up the game-winning play with junior forward Tyler Kohl driving to the rim and dishing off to Bute for the game-winning slam.
 
Four Knights scored in double figures led by Bishop's performance. The sophomore forward was 6-of-14 from the field with eight rebounds and two steals and connected on both of his tries from three-point range. Junior forward Mike Holloway Jr. scored 14 with seven rebounds, junior guard Darnell Edge had 13 points and freshman guard Jahlil Jenkins scored 10.
 
Bute led the way for the Blue Devils with 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting, while senior guard Mustafa Jones finished with 14 points and six rebounds. As a team, CCSU shot 48.2 percent from the field but just 4-of-21 (19 percent) from downtown. Bute's work in the paint helped his team earn a 42-30 advantage in points in the paint.
 
The Knights finished at 41.7 percent for the game but struggled from deep, hitting 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) from behind the arc.
 
"We just could not come up with the big stop or the big rebound that is necessary to win a road conference game," said head coach Greg Herenda following the loss. "We need to execute better on both ends to finish that game off."
 
"We have had two very difficult endings to games in this state [Connecticut] but we just need to regroup and get ready for Saturday."
 
The Blue Devils opened up three different seven-point leads in the first half including a 25-18 advantage after Jones converted a layup at the 6:01 mark.
 
Despite a strong shooting performance by the home team, the Knights stayed close thanks to 11 first-half points by Bishop. The sophomore forward's 11 first-half tallies led all scorers at the break and he added four rebounds to his ledger as the Knights entered the locker room trailing 33-29.
 
The Blue Devils logged a 50 percent (13-of-26) shooting performance in the opening half, while the Knights connected on 36.4 percent (12-of-33) overall and 1-of-8 (12.5 percent) from behind the arc. Bishop was responsible for the Knights' lone make from three-point range and helped his team to a 17-13 edge on the glass across those first 20 minutes.
 
Bute and Jones served as the catalysts for the Blue Devils out of the break as their efficient shooting helped the team maintain its lead for most of the second half.
 
After trailing by as many as nine, the Knights would close to within a basket after a left-handed putback slam from Bishop making it a 60-57 game with 2:05 to go.
 
After Jenkins went coast-to-coast for a layup, the Knights' fullcourt pressure forced a steal and coincidentally sent Edge to the line where he drained a pair.
 
The Blue Devils missed back-to-back free throws but were able to get the offensive rebound on both before Bishop snagged a third miss and drew a foul. The sophomore forward came up clutch and drained both free throws to give the Knights their first lead of the game -- 65-64 -- with 10 seconds to go. 
 
After Bute's dunk, the Knights' had one final chance and a halfcourt baseball pass to Pat McNamara resulted in a foul and sent the sophomore guard to the line with a chance to tie or take the lead, however, McNamara's first free throw spun around the rim and out and the Blue Devils grabbed the rebound and the victory.
 
The Knights had connected on all 12 of their free throws up until that point and finished 12-of-13, while the Blue Devils made 8-for-14 (57.1 percent) at the line in the win.
 
Next up for the Knights is a home date with Mount St. Mary's this Saturday, January 20 at 4:30 p.m.