SMITHFIELD, R.I. – With the game tied at 60-60 and 2.4 seconds showing on the clock, freshman Alex Francis (Harlem, N.Y.) picked up a loose ball at the top of the key and drove through the lane to score his career-high 25th point of the game, laying in a buzzerbeating finger roll that lifted the Bryant University men's basketball team past Mount St. Mary's, 62-60, in a Northeast Conference thriller Saturday at the Chace Athletic Center.

It was such a thriller, that Francis's layup was still mulling around the rim debating whether or not to fall in well after the buzzer had already sounded.

But when the ball finally did come down to earth through the net, the crowd inside the Chace Athletic Center erupted – Bryant had completed yet another seemingly impossible comeback. The win marked the second buzzerbeater victory for the Bulldogs (7-15, 5-5 NEC) this season and the fourth victory in the final seconds of a contest in the 2010-11 campaign.

Francis's game winner capped off a 14-2 run by the Bulldogs, who shot just 35.8 percent on the day, in the final five minutes of regulation, turning what seemed to be a sure Mount St. Mary's (7-16, 5-5) victory into the team's seventh win of the season.

Down by as many as 14 in the contest and 13 with 9:08 to play in the second half, the Bulldogs drew to within a single basket, 58-56, with just over two minutes remaining in the game. But when an errant 3-pointer from Raphael Jordan (Bel Air, Md.) with almost no time left on the shot clock forced the Bulldogs to inbound from the baseline with just one second to catch and shoot, Francis was there to complete his second biggest play of the night. But it wasn't a basket that proved to be the turning point.

Taking the pass, Francis took a layup from the right side just in time, pulling down his own rebound when The Mount's Josh Castellanos got whistled for a hold, sending the frosh – who shoots just 54.3 percent from the line on the season – to the charity stripe.

Making the first, Francis's second attempt was too long, bouncing off the back of the rim and ricocheting out to the left, where senior Barry Latham (Taunton, Mass.) battled to take control of the offensive board with 56 seconds remaining and a one-point deficit.

The rebound kept possession with Bryant, setting up sophomore Frankie Dobbs (Berea, Ohio) to dish the ball to Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) with 35 seconds left, as the senior drained a 3-pointer to give the home side a two-point lead, 60-58, for the first time since the 10:55 mark of the first half. The Mountaineers raced back to tie up the score on a layup by Lamar Trice, giving Bryant the final possession with the shot clocked turned off.

Francis led the game both on the floor and on the boards, scoring a career-high and game-best 25 points – including 14 of the team's first 18 – while pulling in a game-high nine rebounds. The rookie went 10-for-13 (76.9 percent) from the floor on the day and added a career-high three steals. Gresham chipped in an impressive performance of his own with 21 points, nine boards and an 8-for-8 mark from the line.

Julian Norfleet and Trice led Mount St. Mary's on the afternoon with 13 and 12 points, respectively, while the visitors shot 37.7 percent from the field.

Both teams started slow from the game's outset, until Trice hit the first basket of the afternoon, a jumper at the 16:23 mark to give Mount St. Mary's the early 2-0 lead. From there, Bryant responded with the rookie duo of Matt Lee (Bloomfield, N.J.) and Francis, as the pair combined for the next six Bulldog baskets to put the home side on top, 12-10, with 10:55 remaining.

The Mountaineers answered with two separate 7-0 runs that gave the visitors a 26-18 edge with 4:20 to play in the first frame, and Mount St. Mary's would end the half in strong fashion to take a 36-24 lead in the locker room.

Gresham would knock down a 3-pointer at the 16:31 mark of the second frame to bring the home team within nine, 32-41, and hit another trey to bring the Bulldogs within seven soon after, but the Mount pushed their lead back up to 51-39 with 9:43 left in the half with back-to-back Danny Thompson buckets.

Still down by 10 with 4:31 to play in the contest, the Black and Gold used several trips to the charity stripe and a 3-point play by Jordan to power an 8-0 run, trimming the Mount's lead down to two with 2:07 to go, setting up the Bulldogs' last-minute 62-60 victory.

The Black and Gold return to NEC play on Thursday, Feb. 3 when they visit Robert Morris for a 7:00 p.m. matchup.