January 31, 2009

LAMBERT SCORES 22 AS BRYANT PICKS-UP FIRST DIVISON I ROAD VICTORY, 65-60, OVER SAINT FRANCIS (PA)

Boxscore

LORETTO, PA. - The Bryant University men's basketball team overcame a ten point halftime deficit to grab their first Division I road victory as they knocked-off Saint Francis University, 65-60, in Loretto, Pennsylvania Saturday night. Pete Lambert (Cumberland, R.I. / Cumberland) had a game-high 22 points while Adam Parzych (Lindenhurst, N.Y. / Lindenhurst) set a career-high with 17 points to help the Bulldogs to their third win in the last five games.

Bryant (5-17) hit eight second half three's to help in the comeback, going 8-for-18 with Lambert hitting five and Paryzch hitting two. They did it all without point guard Chris Birrell (Scituate, R.I. / Scituate), who was sidelined with an injury for the game, forcing freshman Sam Leclerc (Fayette, Maine / Winthrop) and Lambert to take over running the Bulldog offense.

Saint Francis (5-16) used had ten second-chance points in the first half to help stake themselves to a, 30-20, lead at the break. Devin Sweetney led all scorers with seven at the break while grabbing four rebounds.  Andrew Lyell (Portsmouth, R.I. / Portsmouth) paced the Bulldogs with six, all coming from the free-throw line. Lyell contributed another solid stat line with eight points for the contest to go with a team-high eight rebounds and three assists.

Bryant jumped out to an early lead as Lambert and Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn. / MCI) knocked-down three's on the first two possessions to take a 6-0 lead with 18:36 left in the first half.

The Red Flash responded with a 9-1 run to take their first lead of the game at 9-7 following a pair of free-throws by Marquis Ford with 13:13 showing on the clock. Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass. / New Bedford) broke a five minute scoreless drought with a bucket in the paint to draw the two teams even at nine apiece the 9:24 mark.

The Bulldogs had their offensive struggles in the first frame, going 5-for-19 from the floor (26.3 percent), but did get to the charity stripe 13 times, converting on eight of those opportunities. Gresham was forced to the bench after picking up his third foul with 11:29 left, limiting him to 12 minutes in the frame.

With the score tied, St. Francis went on a 19-5 run over a seven minute span to take a 14-point lead with 2:28 remaining. The Red Flash caught fire from the outside during the run, hitting five three's during the stretch. The squad, who came into the game shooting 31.4 percent from downtown, went 6-for-12 in the half.

A 6-0 run got Bryant right back into the game prior to halftime, as Lyell hit two more free throws followed by a steal and score by Parzych and a jumper from Lambert, cutting the deficit to eight at 28-20 with less than 30 seconds to go. A two by Randy Spaid right before halftime extended the lead back to ten as the teams headed to their locker rooms.

But once again it was a tale of two halves for the Bulldogs, as they went on to outscore Saint Francis 45-30 in the second-half to complete their second double-digit second half comeback of the year to grab their first win on the road.

The Red Flash built the lead as high as 14 in the second frame, as Sweetney scored nine of the first 12 St. Francis points, taking a 42-28 lead at the first media timeout with 15:20 to go.

The Bryant defense would respond coming out of the timeout, holding the Red Flash without a field goal over the next 7:15, surrendering just two points in that time span. The stifling defense sparked a 16-2 run that brought the Bulldogs all the way back to tie the game at 44 with 8:29 showing on the clock, concluding with a Gresham three from the right wing. Pazych had six points while Lambert contributed five. It was the first tie since the teams were knotted at nine apiece with 9:24 left in the first half.

The Red Flash grabbed the lead back on a three by Kyle Jackson on the ensuing possession. Saint Francis would push the lead back to six on another bucket from Sweetney, lifting the Red Flash to a 54-48 advantage at the 6:01 mark.

Lambert responded, drilling a trey on the very next possession to trim the deficit back down to the three. A pair of Parzych free-throws brought Bryant to within one at 54-53 going into the final media timeout with 3:09 to go.

The Bulldogs grabbed their first lead since owning a 7-5 advantage at the 14:26 mark of the first half on a pull-up jumper from the right elbow by Gresham, taking a one-point edge with 3:03 left.

Yet another three by Lambert on the next possession gave Bryant a slight cushion at 58-54 with 2:06 remaining. The Cumberland, Rhode Island native went 6-for-17 from downtown on the night. Cale Nelson responded just 30 seconds later for the Red Flash, bringing the host team back within one.

After a Bryant turnover, the Bulldog defense came up with a clutch stop on a missed shot by Sweetney with Lyell pulling down a big rebound as the clock ran down to under a minute.

Leading by one with the ball, the Bulldogs ran down the clock, getting the ball to Parzych at the top of the key. The sophomore guard took two dribbles with his right hand and pulled up with a three right over Sweetney, hitting nothing but the bottom of the net, giving Bryant a 61-57 lead with 29.5 ticks left on the clock. Parzych came up huge all night, including going 9-for-12 from the charity stripe.

Sweetney grabbed an offensive rebound on the next possession and got fouled on the put-back, but only managed to make one from the line with 13.7 left. The Red Flash fouled Gresham on the inbound, and the junior forward stepped to the line to hit two clutch free-throws to basically point the game away, holding a five point edge with 12.2 to go. Gresham ended with ten points.

Sweetney put in two more on an offensive board, as he finished with 22 in the game. Saint Francis fouled Parzych with 4.4 to go in a last ditch effort, but there was no stopping the Lindenhurst, New York native on this night, as he hit both freebies to ice the game, and send Bryant back to Smithfield with their fifth win.

The Bulldogs owned the glass in the second half, pulling down 10 offensive rebounds and beating the Red Flash 17-12 in the frame. Bryant ended with a slight 31-30 edge on the boards. Second half free-throw shooting as also big, as the Bulldogs converted on 11-of-13 from the stripe and were 73.1 percent for the game including 4-for-4 in the final minute of play.

Bryant will look to continue its winning ways as they head to West Long Branch, New Jersey on Thursday night to battle Monmouth (7 p.m.).