SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's basketball team knotted the score at 52-52 with 7:14 left to play, but 22 points from junior point guard Frankie Dobbs (Berea, Ohio) wasn't enough as the Bulldogs fell to Fairleigh Dickinson, 66-63, at the Chace Athletic Center in Thursday night Northeast Conference action.

The win was the first conference victory of the year for the Knights (2-18, 1-8 NEC), who were paced by a game-best 25 points from Lonnie Robinson. FDU also got double-digit scoring from George Goode (11 points, 2 blocks) and Briahn Smith (12 points, game-high 7 rebounds) and shot 46.7 percent on the evening. Sophomore Alex Francis (Harlem, N.Y.) chipped in 16 points for the home side, and the Bulldogs (2-19, 1-8) shot 39 percent from the field.

Bryant chipped away at a nine-point halftime lead and cut its deficit to just three, 48-45, with a run capped off by a Dobbs trey – one of four on the night – with 11:42 left on the clock. FDU scored the next four for a seven-point advantage nearing the midpoint of the frame, but consecutive layups by Dobbs and Corey Maynard (Adelaide, Australia) brought the home side back within a score with more than eight minutes to play.

With the 52-49 lead, the Knights struggled to inbound the ball on the next possession, throwing it out of bounds to give possession back to the Black and Gold, and the hosts capitalized on the mistake as Francis drained a triple from near the top of the key to tie the score at 52-52 with more than seven minutes to go.

But FDU would quickly break the knot in its favor, and while the Bulldogs would pull within one point twice more – the last time coming after a three-point play from sophomore Claybrin McMath (Adelaide, Australia) with just eight ticks left on the clock – the visiting Knights would hit their shots from the line for the 66-63 final tally.

FDU shot 75 percent from the charity stripe on the day and 33.3 percent from downtown. Bryant went 9-of-14 from the line (64.3 percent) and 8-of-28 from 3-point land. Maynard dished out a game-high six assists. The Knights overcame a four-point Bulldog lead seven minutes into Thursday's contest and held a 36-27 advantage at the halftime break.

The Bulldogs remain at home for one final game on the team's current homestand and will host Monmouth University Saturday at 4 p.m.