March 13, 2007
BULLDOG BASKETBALL GAMEDAY
NCAA REGIONAL TITLE ON THE LINE TONIGHT AS BULLDOGS FACE
BENTLEY FOR RIGHT TO ADVANCE TO ELITE EIGHT
WATCH GAME LIVE - LISTEN LIVE
UPDATE
For the third time in the last four years, the
Bryant University men's basketball team will play for the Northeast
Regional Championship Tuesday night when the third-seeded Bulldogs
face top-seeded and undefeated Bentley College in the final. The
game tips off at 7 pm at Bentley's Dana Center. Bryant earned
its spot in the finals thanks to a 65-62 win over second-seeded
Saint Rose Sunday. The Bulldogs knocked off sixth-seed
Adelphi 77-55 Saturday in the first round. The winner of Tuesday's
final will advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight which will
take place March 20-23 in Springfield, Mass. Bryant has won
five of its last six games with the one loss coming against Bentley
in the NE-10 Regional Semifinals on Mar. 1.
SWEET SIXTEEN AGAIN
Bryant makes its third appearance in the NCAA
Regional Championship / Sweet Sixteen. The Bulldogs are 1-1
in NCAA Regional Final games, falling to host UMass Lowell at the
buzzer in the 2004 final and defeating Bentley 74-64 in 2005 final
(also played at Bentley). The win over Bentley in the 2005 was
Bryant's first-ever Regional Championship. Bryant would
advance to the NCAA Championship game that year at the Elite Eight
in Grand Forks, N.D., falling to Virginia Union in the Championship
game on CBS TV by five points.
GETTING A LITTLE DEFENSIVE IN THE POSTSEASON
In two NCAA games, Bryant has held Adelphi and
Saint Rose to under 40 percent shooting from the floor. Adelphi,
which made 8 of its first 12 shots in Saturday's quarterfinal, made
just 3 of 29 shots (10.3 percent) in the second half and was
0-for-16 from three-point range in the final 20 minutes.
Saint Rose shot just 38 percent from the floor in the game.
Golden Knight leading scorer and NE-10 Player of the Year Steve
Dagostino was held to just six points on 1 of 6 shooting.
REBOUNDING
Bryant has out-rebounded opponents by an average
of 10 in two NCAA regional games. Bryant out-rebounded Saint
Rose by 14 (42 to 28) Sunday and out-rebounded Adelphi by six (36
to 30). Jon Ezeokoli has 18 rebounds in two NCAA games.
BULLDOGS KNOCK DOWN THE FREE THROWS
Sometimes it's the little things that make the
difference. After failing to get to the foul line in the
first half against Adelphi, Bryant made 19 of 22 free throws in the
second half in a 77-55 win. Burns, Baeza, and Ezeokoli all
combined to go a perfect 16 for 16 from the line. In Sunday's
regional semifinal against Saint Rose, Bryant made 23 of 25 free
throws with Ezeokoli and Burns converting a combined 16 of 17 free
throws. In five postseason games (including three NE-10
Conference tournament games), Bryant is shooting 81.9 percent from
the line (86 for 105).
FREE THROW PERCENTAGE IN NCAA
TOURNAMENT
Vs.
Adelphi
19 of
22
.864
Vs. Saint Rose 23
of
25
.920
Total
42 of 47
.894
BULLDOGS AND FALCONS MEET FOR FOURTH TIME
Bryant and Bentley will meet for the fourth time
this season and eighth time in the last three seasons.
Bentley has won all three matchups with the Bulldogs this year,
winning 61-49 in Waltham on December 5 and rallying for 78-76 win
before a sold-out crowd of 2,660 at the Chace Center in Smithfield,
RI on Feb. 3. Bryant had a 17 point lead with 8:51 left only
to fall by two in the final minute. The Falcons used a 25-6
run to close out the game and winning 78-76. Bentley was No.
3 in the country at the time and trailed 70-53 with 8:51 left
before starting the rally. The Falcons, behind 23 points from
Nate Fritsch and 17 from Jeff
Holmes, scored 21 points off Bryant turnovers. The
Bulldogs were led by Chris Burns and Jon
Ezeokoli who each finished with 15. Yusuf
Abdul-Ali scored the game winning basket on a pull-up
jumper with 1.5 seconds left. In the NE-10 semifinals at the
Dana Center, the last meeting between these two teams, Bentley made
10 three-point field goals (7 in the first half) in rolling to an
85-74 win before 3,406 fans.
EVEN STEVEN: BRYANT AND BENTLEY HEAD TO
HEAD STATISTICALLY IN THREE MEETINGS
* Bryant's Chris Burns is averaging 13.7 ppg
vs. Bentley and has made 12 three's
* Ezeokoli is averaging 11.0 ppg and has four steals in three
meetings.
* Dan Hammond is averaging 7.7 rebounds (23 total) in three
meetings with Bentley
* Bentley's Jeff Holmes and Nate
Fritsch averaged 17.7 and 17.3 ppg respectively in three
games vs. Bryant this year
* In the three games, Bryant has made 21 three's and Bentley has
made 20.
* In the three games, Bentley has 107 rebounds (29 off) and
Bryant has 103 (27 off).
* Bentley has made 21 three's in the three games, Bryant has
made
20.
DÉJÀ VU?
A total of eight players (four from Bryant and
four from Bentley) were in the lineup in the Bryant - Bentley
Regional Final in 2005. Bryant's Dan
Hammond, Nate Sudlow, Chris
Burns and Jon Ezeokoli played in the game
while Bentley's Andy Smith (17 pts, 12 rebounds),
Nate Fritsch (12 pts, 6 rebounds), Yusuf
Abdul-Ali, and Danny Lawson were on the
court for the Falcons. Hammond had 9 points and 10 rebounds
while Burns had five points and two rebounds off the bench in '05.
NCAA EXPERIENCE
This is the fourth appearance in the NCAA tournament for seniors
Chris Burns and Nate Sudlow. The
two played in the Lowell regional as freshmen in 2004 and are 9-3
in NCAA tournament games. Senior Dan Hammond did
not play the year Bryant played Lowell in the 2004 regional, but
has played in the NCAA tournament the last two seasons and is
playing in his third NCAA regional tournament. Jon
Ezeokoli is making his third NCAA appearance. The Bulldogs
are 7-2 in the NCAA Tournament with Ezeokoli and Hammond.
BRYANT IN NCAA TOURANMENT
This is Bryant's sixth trip to the NCAA
tournament and fourth in a row. The Bulldogs are 9-7 in five
postseason appearances all-time and 9-3 in NCAA
tournament play under coach Max Good. In March of
2004, Good led the Bulldogs back into the NCAA tournament after a
23 year hiatus. As the No. 7 seed, the Bulldogs proceeded to
knock off CW Post and NYIT before falling to host UMass Lowell on a
last-second shot by Elad Inbar. The following year, Bryant
the No. 6 seed, again reached the regional final and proceeded to
knock off host and top-seed Bentley to advance to the Elite
Eight. Last season, Bryant, the No. 3 seed, fell to UMass
Lowell in the first round in Easton, Mass.
BRYANT IN NCAA TOURNAMENT GAMES (9-7, 9-3 Under Coach
Good)
1978
vs.
Merrimack
91-116 L
vs. Bridgeport
85-89 L
1980
vs. Springfield
78-91 L
vs.
Quinnipiac
97-102 L
2004 @ Lowell, Mass. (#7 Seed)
vs. C.W. Post
65-63 W
vs.
NYIT
64-60 W
vs. UMass
Lowell
62-63 L
2005 @ Waltham, Mass (No. 6 seed)
vs.
Adelphi
69-48 W
vs.
Bloomfield
76-59 W
vs.
Bentley
74-64 W
NCAA Elite Eight
vs. Mount
Olive
84-69 W
vs. Tarleton
St.
60-55 W
vs. Virginia
Union
58-63 L
2006 @ Easton, Mass. (No. 3 seed)
vs. UMass
Lowell
63-77 L
2007 @ Waltham, Mass. (No. 3 seed)
vs. No. 6
Adelphi
77-55 W
vs. No. 2 St.
Rose
65-62 W
SENIORS HAVE .698 WINNING PERCENTAGE
Bryant's senior class of Chris Burns
(Merrimack, NH), Dan Hammond (Brunswick,
Maine), Nate Sudlow (Brooklyn,
NY) have been involved in 90 wins during their four year
careers. The trio bring a combined record of 90-39 (.695) in
the NCAA regional tournament. Burns and Sudlow have appeared
in the NCAA tournament all four years and have reached the Sweet
Sixteen in three of those four years.
QUICK TIDBITS
* Chris Burns, ranked 11th nationally last week
with 3.6 three-point field goals per game average, has a
career-best 111 three's this season which is THIRD-best in school
history. The school record is 119 held by John Williams in
2004-05.
* A Bryant win would be the 22nd this season, passing last
year's win total of 21 (21-10).
* A Bryant win would be coach Max Good's 115th at
Bryant and 224th overall.
* Bryant is 8-9 away from home.
* Chris Burns is 10th in the conference in scoring
this year with 15.5 ppg. Burns leads the conference in
three-pointers per game (3.62 three's per game) and second with 111
three's made..
WINNING WHEN IT MATTERS MOST
Max Good's Bulldogs have found success in the winter months
leading up to conference and NCAA playoff time. The Bulldogs,
who have advanced to four-straight NCAA Championships, were 7-2 in
the month of January. Since 2003-04, Bryant has a 27-13
record in the month of January and 22-9 record in the month of
February. Last year, Bryant was 8-1 in February.
Since 2003-04:
Record in January -
27-13
Record in February
-
22-9
Record in March
-
11-7
BURNS HITTING ON ALL CYLINDERS
Chris Burns (Merrimack, NH)
racked up a career-best 36 points in Bryant's win at Southern
Connecticut on Feb.17. It was the third time this year Burns
scored more than 30 after stellar back-to-back nights of 31 against
Pace and Stonehill in January. The 36 points ties him for sixth for
most points in a game with two other players (Noel Watson and Jason
Bennett who reached the mark twice). The record for points in
a game is 53 by Dave Sorafine in 1976.
Three-point field goals in a season:
1. John
Williams
119 2004-05
2. John Williams
115 2005-06
3. Chris Burns
111
2006-07
Career Three-point field goals
1. John
Williams
323 2002-05
2. Jason
Bennett
295 1998-00
3. Chris
Burns
280
2003-present
WINNING WAYS
Thanks to Saturday's NCAA win over Adelphi,
Bryant has now posted four-straight 20-win seasons in five seasons
under Max Good. The Bulldogs have qualified for
four-straight NCAA tournaments, going 23-10 in 2003-04 while
following with a 25-9 campaign in 2004-05, reaching the NCAA
Division II Championship game in March of '05. Last year, Bryant
went 21-10. This year, Bryant is 21-10.
ALL CONFERENCE
Senior guard Chris Burns was
named to the Northeast-10 All-Conference First Team. Teammate
and junior forward Jon Ezeokoli was named third
team all-conference. While this is the first all-conference
honor for Ezeokoli, Burns was named the conference Freshman of the
Year in 2004. This is the second first team honor in a row
for Bryant with John Williams earning first team and co-player of
the year honors last season.
GOOD MOVES PAST REILLY FOR THIRD
Head Coach Max Good is in his
sixth season at the helm of the Bryant basketball team. In
the win over Southern Connecticut, Good passed Ed Reilly for
coaching victories at Bryant. During his five seasons, Good
has led the Bulldogs to four-straight 20-win seasons (including
this year) and four consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament-
highlighted by a trip to the national championship game in March of
2005 where the Bulldogs fell to Virginia Union by five. Good
has a record of 114-72 while at Bryant and
223-210 during 15 seasons as a head coach, having
previously coached at UNLV and Eastern Kentucky.
Bryant's Coaching Victories
1. Tom Foliard 174
(1968-78, 174-88)
2. Leon Drury
126 (1978-89,
126-182)
3. Max Good
114
(2001-present, 114-72)
4. Ed Reilly
109 (1989-01,
109-209)
