BRYANT MEN'S BASKETBALL
February 14, 2007
Bryant Men's Hoops
Loses to St. Michael's 74-68
COLCHESTER, VT - The Bryant
men's basketball team struggled offensively as they were defeated
by Saint Michael's 74-68 Wednesday night in a Northeast-10
Conference game.
Bryant falls into fifth place in the Northeast-10 and has lost
three of their last four conference games.
After foul trouble limited Jon Ezeokoli (South Orange,
NJ) to only eight first-half minutes, the junior forward
sank five field-goals in the first five minutes of the second half.
He finished with 17 points, 15 in the second half.
With the exception of Ezeokoli, the Bulldogs struggled from the
field in the second half. Ezeokoli made all but two of Bryant's
buckets in the first 16 minutes of the final half until Dan
Hammond (Brunswick, ME) converted a lay-in to cut the lead
to 66-60 with 3:12 to play.
A three by Chris Burns (Merrimack, NH) the
Purple Knights' lead to three and Hammond followed with two free
throws to cut the lead to one. But Brendan Mullins came right back
with a three to increase Saint Michael's lead to 69-65.
With 23.7 seconds left, Orlando Baeza
(Palmdale, CA) drove to the hoop, nailed the lay-up and
was fouled. He converted the free throw to cut the lead to one.
James Sorrentine then sunk two free throws, including his
100th career point, leaving Bryant with the last shot
down by three with 13 seconds remaining.
But Baeza's pass to Ezeokoli was intercepted and the Purple
Knights put the game away.
Bryant took a 35-34 halftime lead behind ten points from
Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, CT).
Due to the blizzard in the Northeast, this was the only
scheduled game actually played in the Northeast-10 Conference
Wednesday night.
Earlier Wednesday, the most recent regional rankings were
released with Bryant ranked fourth in the Northeast Region. The top
eight teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Bryant (16-9, 12-8 NE-10) closes out its three-game road trip at
Southern Connecticut Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
