Bryant holds off Mount St. Mary's, 55-53

SMITHFIELD, R.I. (AP) Dyami Starks and Bosko Kostur both scored 17 points and Bryant held on to knock off Mount St. Mary's 55-53 Thursday night.

The victory leaves the Bulldogs (11-11, 8-3) one game behind St. Francis Brooklyn and alone in second place in the Northeast Conference after Robert Morris lost to LIU Brooklyn.

Dyami Starks gave Bryant a 54-51 lead on a layup with 2:35 left and neither team scored for more than two minutes.

Byron Ashe converted a pair of free throws to pull the Mountaineers within one, 54-53, with :12 seconds left. Gregory Graves found open space in front of the basket with :04 left, but his shot for the lead wouldn't fall and Shane McLaughlin snared the rebound to seal it for Bryant. McLaughlin added a free throw for the final margin.

Graves finished with 14 points to lead Mount St. Mary's (10-12, 6-5).