December 27, 2008

Box Score

BULLDOGS FALL TO MARYLAND, 72-51, IN HARD-FOUGHT BATTLE AT THE COMCAST CENTER

Cecil Gresham battles for a rebound Saturday afternoon. (Photo provided by Ed Rhode)

COLLEGE PARK, MD- The Bulldogs got a career-high 12 points from Sam Leclerc (Fayette, Maine / Winthrop), but tough defense and hot shooting from Maryland helped them get past Bryant, 72-51, in front of more than 15,000 fans at the Comcast Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Terrapins jumped on the Bulldogs early, using full-court pressure to help force turnovers, as Bryant committed 13 first half turnovers leading to 18 Maryland points, giving the home team a 42-25 lead at the break.

The Bulldogs got to early scores from Pete Lambert (Cumberland, R.I. / Cumberland) and Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn. / MCI) to keep the score close at 8-5 with 16:15 to play in the first half. But, the Terps would respond with an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to extend their advantage to 19-5.

Maryland would push the lead to as high as 17 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first frame when the Bryant offense would respond with a quick 8-0 run, getting three's Leclerc and Chris Birrell (Scituate, R.I. / Scituate) to force Terrapin head coach Gary Williams to call a timeout with 9:22 left. Leclerc hit two three's in the half, tying him with Gresham for the team lead in scoring with six.

The lead would continue to hover around nine until an 8-0 Maryland run, highlighted by two Greivis Vasquez three's would bring the lead back to 17 with 4:07 left. Vasquez led all scorers with 14 points at the half, finishing with 19 for the game.

The Bulldogs did a great job on the boards, outrebounding the Terrapins 20-15 in the half, but could not slow down some hot shooting as Maryland connected on 16 of their 33 first half shots (48.5 percent).

An 11-4 Terp run would start the second half, pushing the lead to 24 points at the first media timeout.

But, the Bulldogs continued to fight, going on a 10-0 run, with three's coming from Gresham and Leclerc along with a jumper from Barry Latham (Taunton, Mass. / Marianapolis), to close to within 14 with 12:02 left in the game, forcing Williams to call another timeout. Bryant hit 9 three's in the game, good for half of their total field goals.

Williams' Terrapins would respond and push the lead back up to 20 thanks to solid inside scoring from Landon Milbourne, who had 13 of his 15 points in the second half.

Bryant continued to hang in there in the second half, only getting outscored 30-26 in the frame. The biggest challenge for the Bulldogs came with turnovers, turning the ball over a total on 19 times, with Maryland converting those into 26 points.

Gresham led the way for the Bulldogs, scoring 14 points to go along with Leclerc's 12 on four three's. The teams finished tied on the boards, grabbing 35 apiece as Jerrann Wright (Cincinnati, Ohio / Dater) had a team high seven rebounds with Birrell and Latham pulling down five each.

Bryant takes a short bus ride to Emmitsburg, Maryland to take on future Northeast Conference rival Mount St. Mary's Monday night (7 p.m.).