January 28, 2010

BULLDOGS FALL TO KNIGHTS, 67-55, AT HOME THURSDAY NIGHT

Boxscore

SMITHFIELD, R.I - Terence Grier and Sean Baptiste each scored 20 points to lead visiting Fairleigh Dickinson to a 67-55 win over Bryant University in Northeast Conference men's basketball action Thursday night.

The Knights shot a sizzling 51.2 percent from the field and got a bulk of their points from the free throw line, making 16-of-23 attempts and making 7-of-15 shots from behind the 3-point line. Baptiste finished the game going 8-of-15 from the floor including 4-of-6 from 3-point range.

The Bulldogs got off to a slow start, falling behind, 7-0, out of the gate, but a dunk by sophomore Papa Lo (Thies, Senegal) and a 3-point field goal by Chris Birrell (Scituate, R.I.) (12 points) pulled the Bulldogs to within one, 13-12, midway through the first half.

Fairleigh Dickinson (6-15, 5-4 NEC) would go up, 19-12, but the Bulldogs kept it close, finally taking its first lead of the game, 24-22, on another trey from Birrell with 4:44 to go before halftime.

A Lo basket late kept the Bulldogs ahead, but the Knights closed out the half with a layup and free throw by John Galvin, sending the visitors into the locker room up at the break, 29-27.

Bryant (0-21, 0-9) matched the Knights offensively for much of the early part of the second frame, and Vlad Kondratyev (Nikolayev, Ukraine) scored on a drive in the paint after an offensive rebound to give the Bulldogs back the lead, 38-36.

But FDU responded as Grier calmly sank a three from the right to start a 10-0 spurt that put the Knights up, 46-38. But the Bulldogs weren't done as Kondratyev answered with a three of his own and Barry Latham (Taunton, Mass.) scored on a nice drive in the lane to get the Bulldogs back within five, 48-43, with just over eight minutes left to play.

Baptiste, the Knights' leading scorer and No. 11 in the NEC in scoring, drained a three from the right side and moments later hit a deep basket to put FDU up, 56-46, with just over two minutes remaining.

Latham equaled a season-high with 16 points in the game while Kondratyev reached double figures for the seventh time in the last nine games with 11 points to go with a career-high eight rebounds.

"We're not far away at all," said head coach Tim O'Shea. "When is it going to turn? You just have to keep persevering. I had no problem with our effort tonight. We played really hard and we were very competitive."

Bryant shot just 35 percent from the floor on the night and made 9-of-33 attempts from 3-point land.

"[We] really are much better team than [we] were months ago, but it's just getting over that hump," added O'Shea. "We still have six of nine left at home, and I think that type of effort you saw tonight, we're going to get some wins."

The Bulldogs will host Monmouth this Saturday at 3:30 pm.