January 2, 2008

BRYANT MEN HOST MERRIMACK WEDNESDAY AT 7:30 PM
Bryant 7-5, 3-4 vs. Merrimack 8-2, 3-2

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The Bryant men's basketball team returns to Northeast-10 Conference play Wednesday evening hosting Merrimack College in a conference matchup at the Chace Athletic Center. The Bulldogs enter the game riding a season-best three-game win streak and above .500 for the first time this season thanks to a pair of wins last week at the annual Bryant Holiday Tournament.  Behind the play of senior Jon Ezeokoli (15.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg), the Bulldogs held off Post University 65-58 in the opener and earned a 61-53 win over Philadelphia Saturday. 

Merrimack (8-2, 3-2) comes into the game fresh from a pair of wins at the Pace Holiday Tournament in New York. The Warriors defeated Caldwell 87-59 in the opener as freshman Darin Mency scored 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting while Darren Duncan added 14 pts and 10 assists.  On Saturday, Chris Winters had 21 and Duncan added 20 in an 83-72 win over Bloomfield.  In early December, Merrimack dropped back-to-back overtime games to Assumption 92-81 and top-ranked Bentley, 85-82.

BULLDOGS VS. MERRIMACK
This will be the first of two meetings with the Warriors as the two teams will play in the regular season finale February 26 in North Andover, MA. Last year, Bryant and Merrimack split their two regular season meetings, with the Warriors winning 73-52 at home and the Bulldogs prevailing at the Chace Athletic Center, 74-69 on Senior Night.  Ezeokoli had 21 points and Jerrann Wright had 9 rebounds in the game.

LOOKING AT WARRIORS
Darin Mency leads Merrimack with 19.3 ppg and 5.3 rpg.  He is shooting 66 for 146 (45.2 percent) from the floor and has made 30 of 79 (38 percent) three-point field goal attempts. Guard Darrren Duncan is next with 18.7 ppg and has a team-best 71 assists while backcourt mate Micky Burtnyk brings a 12.1 ppg scoring average into the game.

HOLIDAY PICKUP
With the holidays in the rearview mirror, it's time for the Bulldogs to start getting down to business.  Over the past few seasons, Bryant has traditionally started slow out of the game only to put together a strong push to the playoffs that has resulted in four-straight NCAA appearances.  Last year, Bryant was 7-4 following the holiday tournament and proceeded to win seven of its next eight en route to a 21-11 season.  In 2005-06, the Bulldogs were 7-3 after the holiday tournament and won 6 of their next 9, finishing 21-10.  In 2004-05, Bryant was 6-3 following the Christmas Tournament but opened January by winning 12 of its next 15 and kick-starting its run to the national championship game.  

EZEOKOLI DOUBLES
Senior Jon Ezeokoli has scored in double figures in 54 of 107 career games at Bryant. The guard came into the season with 43 double-figure scoring games and has reached double figures in 11 of 10 games. The only game he didn't reach the mark was a seven-point effort at Assumption. He had a season-best 26 points against Franklin Pierce.  His career-best is 30 at CW Post last season.