DOBBS THREE SENDS BRYANT TO 74-71 LAST-SECOND WIN OVER FDU THURSDAY

Bulldogs winners of four-straight, will host Monmouth Saturday at 4 p.m.

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Frankie Dobbs (Berea, Ohio) scored a career-high 25 points including the game-winning 3-point basket with 2.5 seconds left to send the Bryant University men's basketball team to a thrilling 74-71 Northeast Conference win over Fairleigh Dickinson Thursday evening at the Chace Athletic Center.

Bryant (6-13, 4-3 NEC), winners of four straight, shot a sizzling 54.9 percent from the floor, including 58 percent in the second half. It was the second-straight game in which the Bulldogs shot better than 50 percent and third time in the last four outings.

Dobbs was 7-for-10 shooting from the floor in the game, including 7-for-9 from 3-point range and a perfect 4-for-4 from the line, scoring 19 of his 25 points in the second stanza. Alex Francis (Harlem, N.Y.) was also productive from the floor in the game as the freshman forward finished with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting as well.

Thursday's game was a tight contest throughout. The second half alone featured 12 ties and nine lead changes as neither team held a lead larger than eight points all night.

With the game tied, 56-56, with 7:30 left to play, the Bulldogs put together a nice 8-0 spurt, keyed by a long three from Dobbs on the left side and another trey from the corner. Bryant would go to Dobbs again, but this time his 3-pointer rimmed out for teammate Barry Latham (Taunton, Mass.) to get the tip-in to give Bryant a 64-56 edge with just over four minutes to play.

But the visiting Knights (5-13, 1-5) would answer with a run of their own. Two treys from FDU's Mike Scott (team-high 20 points) quickly brought the Knights back to within a point, 65-64, with 2:20 left on the clock. Moments later, Scott would turn a Bryant giveaway into a basket at the other end, as the 6-foot guard weaved his way through the lane for a tough basket, giving the Knights a 66-65 lead.

Tied at 67-67 with a minute to go, Latham found a wide open Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) (13 points) out on the wing to put the Bulldogs up by two.

A free throw and three-pointer by Scott with 24 seconds left would knot the game up once again at 71-71. But the Bulldogs would respond, as Dobbs came off a screen from the left side to connect for the game-winning basket and send the Bulldogs to the 74-71 win and the longest winning streak of the program's short Division I history.

Bryant will return to action on Saturday afternoon, hosting Monmouth University at 4 p.m.  Fairleigh Dickinson will also be in action Saturday, visiting Central Connecticut starting at 3:30 p.m.