January 2, 2009

Box Score

BRYANT COMES STORMING BACK TO BEAT YALE, 69-58, FRIDAY AFTERNOON AT THE CHACE CENTER

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Playing in their first home game since December 8^th, the Bryant University men's basketball team overcame a 15-point first half deficit to beat Yale, 69-58, Friday afternoon at the Chace Center. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak for Bryant and was its second Division I victory.

Bryant went on an 18-3 run to start the second half to pull themselves even with Yale at the 13:45 mark, the first tie since the score was 2-2 with 18:11 to go in the first half. Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass. / New Bedford) helped spark the rally, scoring a season-high 15 points, all coming in the second half. Pontes was one of three players registering a season-high in points in the game, with Chris Birrell (Scituate, R.I. / Scituate) putting in 14 and Peter Lambert (Cumberland, R.I. / Cumberland) scoring 16.

Bryant got off to a slow first half start, turning the ball over nine times while going just 6-for-19 from the floor (31.6%), allowing Yale to take a 34-19 lead into the halftime break.

With the score tied early at two apiece, Yale went on a 9-0 run, ending with an Alex Zampier driving lay-up plus a foul, giving Yale an 11-2 lead with just over 13 minutes to go. Zampier led all scorers with 11 points at halftime while senior forward Ross Morin added eight.

Barry Latham (Taunton, Mass. / Marianapolis) carried the first half scoring load, putting in six points and grabbing two rebounds.

Bryant would pull to within ten after a short 5-0 that included a driving lay-in from Adam Parzych (Lindenhurst, N.Y. / Lindenhurst) and a three from Birrell, making the score 25-15 with 4:20 left.

Yale pushed the lead as high as 16 in the half, following a Ross Morin hook shot with just under three minutes left.

Bryant came out with fire in the second half, scoring 18 of the first 21 points and playing some of its best basketball of the season to bring the game to a tie at 37 apiece with 13:45 left to go. Pontes scored nine points as part of the run including a three point play and a thunderous two-hand slam.

Pete Lambert (Cumberland, R.I. / Cumberland) converted on a four-point play early in the half to cut the lead to eight, a play that got the Chace Center crowd back into the game and swung momentum in Bryant's favor. Lambert hit big shot after big shot, scoring a team-high 16 points.

A Birrell three tied the game, bringing Bryant even for the first time since the score was tied at 2-2.

Birrell would connect on another big three, with 7:31 left, giving Bryant its first lead of the game at 44-41and would not let go. The junior guard, who had hit just two three's total in his previous six games, knocked down three on the afternoon. Birrell also grabbed seven rebounds while dishing out five assists and committing just three turnovers in 35 minutes.

Leading by five with 4:40 to play, Andrew Lyell (Portsmouth, R.I. / Portsmouth) delivered a great pass under the basket to Pontes, and Lambert converted on a breakaway lay-up to extend the lead to nine with just over three minutes left.

Lambert would stick a dagger in Yale on the next possession, rising up from the left wing and drilling another three to push the lead to double-digits with three minutes to go.

Bryant would close out Yale in the final minutes of the defensive end, forcing three turnovers in the final two minutes to hold on for the 11-point victory.

"What's really special about this win is it was our first win at home and it came against such a recognizable opponent from one of the top higher education schools," said head coach Tim O'Shea after picking up his second win at Bryant. "This is a squad that went on the road and beat a Pac-10 team and took Alabama down to the wire, losing only by three."

Bryant outscored Yale 50-24 in the second half, while finishing the game with a season-best 68 points. The team managed all this without leading scorer Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn/ MCI), who did not play in the second half due to an illness.

"We really turned the corner confidence-wise in the second half," commented O'Shea. "To be able to do what we did without arguably our best scorer really shows a lot about the character of this team."

Bryant will look to carry this momentum into Long Island as they travel to play the Blackbirds on Wednesday night (7 p.m.).

POST GAME NOTES ...

•  The 69 points were a season-high for Bryant this season
•  Bryant is now 1-0 against Yale and 1-2 at home this season.
•  Today's win snaps a nine-game losing skid
•  Bryant's last win was over Quinnipiac on Nov. 22 at Columbia University
•  Yale missed all 12 three-point attempts
•  It was the first time Bryant held an opponent without a made three-pointer since Dowling went 0-for-10 on Dec. 20, 2003.
• The 12 three-point attempts by Yale was the fewest by a Bryant opponent this season
•  Bryant is now 2-11 on the season, Yale is 2-9 and 1-8 on the road