January 02, 2010

BRYANT FALLS TO IVY LEAGUE POWERHOUSE CORNELL, 75-49, SATURDAY IN FINAL NON-CONFERENCE CONTEST

Boxscore

ITHACA, N.Y. - Despite being outscored by just a single point in the second frame, the Bryant University men's basketball team couldn't overcome a 25-point halftime deficit, falling to Ivy League powerhouse Cornell University, 75-49, in their final non-conference contest of the season Saturday at Newman Arena.

Freshman Vlad Kondratyev (Nikolayev, Ukraine) tied his career high and led the Bulldogs (0-14) with 15 points off 6-of-9 shooting in the game, recording his second-consecutive double-digit scoring performance, while junior Michael Chroney (Nashua, N.H.) also recorded his second-straight double-figure game (10 points), marking his fourth in the last six contests. Chroney also paced the Bulldogs on the glass for the fourth-straight outing, pulling down six boards.

Senior Chris Birrell (Scituate, R.I.) grabbed a game-high four steals while classmate and fellow captain Adam Parzych (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) dished out a team-high three assists.

The Bulldogs were outscored in the second frame just 31-30, shooting 39.3 percent (11-for-28) to Cornell's 41.4 percent (12-for-29) after allowing the Big Red (12-2) to convert on 57.7 percent of all shots in the first half.

But Cornell did too much damage for the Bulldogs to remedy in the first 20 minutes, sending the visitors to the locker room with a 44-19 deficit at the half.

Cornell was on point from the starting whistle, opening the game on 7-0 run before Birrell put Bryant on the board with a layup 2:38 into the game. But the Big Red blew the matchup wide open over the next 7:31, proving to be lethal from long range. Highlighted by five treys over the stretch, a trio of them from Max Groebe, Cornell ripped off 23 points to Bryant's two, opening up a 30-4 gap with 9:41 still to play in the first frame. Bryant's basket came from Kondratyev and would be one of three for the rookie in the half, as he paced the Bulldogs with eight points at the break.

Cornell would connect on 8-of-11 attempts from long range in the opening 20 minutes, with Groebe going 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. He led the game with 12 points (4-for-6) at the intermission and the Big Red would hold a 44-19 advantage at the break. But despite the deficit, Bryant had moments of greatness.

The Bulldogs shot well from the charity stripe, getting seven of their 19 first-half points from the line and going 7-for-8 in the opening session. A Kondratyev tip-in off a Chroney 3-point attempt from the wing put the Bulldogs into double-digits with 6:37 to play. And sophomore bigman Papa Lo (Thies, Senegal) would repeat that effort with just under a minute to play, scoring the visitors' last basket of the frame when he touched home a ball that bounced around the rim after frosh Raphael Jordan (Bel Air, Md.) drove aggressively through the lane to the hole for the layup.

But the Bulldogs' most impressive moment may have come at the 2:07 mark when Groebe, going in strong for a breakaway layup, was thwarted by rookie Erick Smith (Bel Air, Md.), who appeared seemingly out of nowhere to throw down a thundering rejection for his first career block.

Nonetheless, Bryant struggled to score, hitting just 28.6 percent (6-21) from the field while the Big Red converted on 57.7 percent of their 26 first-half shots.

Kondratyev opened second-session scoring with a layup 14 ticks in to earn his 10^th point of the game and third-career double-figure performance, and Chroney followed it up with a career first of his own, hitting from downtown at the 18-minute mark for the first time to move the score to 51-24 in favor of the home side.

But despite being outscored by just one point in the second half, 31-30, the visiting Bulldogs wouldn't be able to catch up as the minutes ticked down, falling 75-49 in their final non-conference game of the 2009-10 season.

Bryant would shoot 34.7 percent on the day to Cornell's 49.1 percent shooting performance and were outrebounded, 37-28. Ryan Wittman collected 19 total points on perfect 7-for-7 shooting (5-for-5 from 3-point range) to lead the game while Jeff Foote's eight boards were a game high.

The Bulldogs return to Northeast Conference play in their next outing and remain in league action for the rest of the season. Bryant will travel to New Jersey to take on Fairleigh Dickinson University (Thurs., Jan. 7) and Monmouth University (Sat., Jan. 9) before finally returning home to host just its third home game of the season.