SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Behind a monster performance from senior forward Kaleb Bishop, the Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team defeated Bryant 77-73 at Chace Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
Bishop poured in a career-high 25 points to go along with 15 rebounds in the contest. The senior also drained all six of his free throws including a pair with 30 seconds to go, which helped seal the win.
 
The victory is the Knights' (3-10, 1-1 NEC) first away from home this season and their fifth straight over the Bulldogs (9-6, 1-1 NEC).
 
In addition to Bishop's effort, sophomore guard Brandon Powell also notched a career-high point total, finishing with 13 points, five rebounds and three steals, while logging a career-best 39 minutes.  Powell knocked down three of the Knights' seven 3-pointers in the win. Junior forward Elyjah Williams joined the duo in double figures with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and added seven rebounds and four assists to his ledger.
 
Bishop's work on the glass aided the Knights in a 46-37 rebounding advantage.
 
As a team, the Burgundy and Blue shot 46.8 percent overall and knocked down 12-of-16 at the charity stripe. Bryant senior guard Adam Grant led all scorers with 28 points and knocked down seven of his team's 14 3-pointers in the loss. The Bulldogs shot 36 percent overall and took 45 3-pointers.

"First and foremost I want to apologize for being ejected today," said Greg Herenda after the victory. "It was my fault and I let my team down. My guys surely stepped up and won a very tough road conference battle. This has been a very difficult stretch for our program but our players and staff have stayed together throughout it all and they all deserve the praise. I just loved how we played in the first half on both sides of the ball. We played FDU basketball for the first time in a long time. I cannot comment on the second half because I didn't see much of it but by the numbers it looked like Kaleb was immense. Give Bruce and my staff a ton of credit. Those guys are awesome every day."
 
The host Bulldogs raced out to an early 9-2 lead prior to the first media timeout thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by Benson Lin. With Bishop leading the charge, the Knights responded and took their first lead of the game, 18-17 after the senior forward laid in a bucket seven minutes into play. Bishop's bucket set off a 10-0 run for the Burgundy and Blue, which was highlighted by a Brandon Powell 3-pointer.
 
With five minutes to play the half, the Knights built their first double-digit lead of the contest, 38-27, after Xzavier Malone-Key weaved into the lane and dropped off a feed for Bishop, who promptly threw down a two-handed slam.
 
Bishop would finish with 17 points first-half points and the Knights, who led by as many as 13 points, carried a 44-40 lead into the break. The Knights shot 56 percent in the stanza and drained 5-of-13 from behind the arc. The Bulldogs also enjoyed a strong three-point shooting performance converting seven from deep in the half.
 
A 3-pointer by Grant with 13:19 to go put the Bulldogs back on top 53-52. After trailing by as many as nine points, the Knights chipped away and eventually retook the lead on a mid-range jumper by Bishop, 68-66 with 4:30 to go.
 
With the game tied at 68 with 30 seconds to go, Bishop knocked down the clutch free throws and the Knights never trailed again.
 
The Knights return home for their next contest as they welcome Sacred Heart to the Rothman Center next Thursday, January 9 at 7:00 p.m.