January 21, 2010 

LATHAM RECORDS SEASON-BEST 16 POINTS BUT BULLDOGS FALL TO BOBCATS ON ROAD, 84-59

Boxscore

HAMDEN, Conn. - Despite a season-high 16 points from junior guard Barry Latham (Taunton, Mass.), the Bryant University men's basketball team wouldn't find its first win of the season in Thursday night's rematch with Northeast Conference rival Quinnipiac, falling to the Bobcats, 84-59, at the TD Bank Sports Center.

Latham put up his best performance on the scorecard in recent memory to lead the Black and Gold, registering double-digit points for the first time since November 25 against Brown with his team-best 16 points. The junior guard went 4-for-9 from the floor and a career-high 7-of-8 from the free throw line Thursday night against the Bobcats. Rookie Erick Smith (Bel Air, Md.) had a strong day of his own, knotting his career best with nine points on 3-for-5 shooting from the field. Junior Michael Chroney (Nashua, N.H.) and freshman Vlad Kondratyev (Nikolayev, Ukraine) chipped in eight points apiece for the Bulldogs, while Chroney paced Bryant on the glass for the fourth-straight game and ninth time in the last 11 contests with a game-high seven rebounds.

Bryant  (0-19, 0-7 NEC) kept it close through the game's opening 12 minutes, a span that featured three ties and four lead changes, before the Bobcats (12-6, 6-1) took their first double-digit lead with 7:28 to play in the first frame.

The Bulldogs took a 5-3 edge to open the game after Chroney was the beneficiary of a heads-up cross-court pass from senior Chris Birrell (Scituate, R.I.) for a wide open look from 3-point land. The teams would trade points from there, and Bryant would then take an 11-10 advantage with 14:18 left in the first session, thanks to the fourth free throw of the half from Latham. The junior would go 4-for-4 from the stripe in the frame and 7-for-8 on the day.

The Black and Gold got down by six, 17-11, at the 12:03 mark, but back-to-back buckets from senior Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass.) closed the gap to 17-15 in the Bobcats' favor. But from there, Quinnipiac would steady build on its lead, taking the biggest edge of the half with a trey from Deontay Twyman just four seconds before going to the break, 47-25.

Pontes and Latham paced the Black and Gold with strong first halves, and the latter led the Bulldogs at the break with eight points off 2-for-4 shooting. Pontes posted six points on 3-for-4 shooting in 11 minutes of action. But the Bulldogs hurt themselves the most on the glass, getting outworked, 24-13, and allowing the Bobcats to pull down 12 offensive boards, good for 13 second-chance points in the opening 20 minutes.

One of the Bobcats' most impressive plays of the night was sparked by Twyman with 3:48 showing on the clock in the first session. From the baseline, Twyman made a heads up pass out to Jamee Jackson under the basket. Jackson quickly kicked it into the hands of James Feldeine just to the right of the hoop, where Feldeine took a sharp step in to drop the ball cleanly through the rim for a 40-23 advantage.

In the second session, the Bulldogs cut the home side's lead to 19 points on three occasions, the final time coming after three-consecutive buckets from Smith in the final six minutes of the second half. But Bryant wouldn't move the score any closer before the final whistle, despite being outscored just 37-34 in the final frame.

Chroney nailed two from long distance in the game to lead the Bulldogs from 3-point range and Birrell joined him as one of four to convert from downtown with a deep three at the 12:31 mark of the second session after a Latham offensive rebound. It was one of just 11 offensive boards for the Bulldogs on the day while Quinnipiac recorded 18. Bryant would be outrebounded overall, 40-32.

In the end, Quinnipiac would take an 84-59 victory over the Bulldogs, led by 18 points from Feldeine, one of a trio of Bobcats to record double-digit scoring numbers. James Johnson equaled Chroney's numbers on the glass, tying the Bulldog junior with a game-high seven rebounds, also dishing out a game-best five assists.

Bryant shot 42.6 percent on the evening, bested by Quinnipiac's 45.2 percent clip. Kondratyev recorded the only block of the game for the Black and Gold, his 11th of the year, while the Bobcats put up three rejections.

The Bulldogs return to The Constitution State Saturday afternoon when they play their second rematch contest of the week, challenging Sacred Heart at the Pitt Center in Fairfield just nine days after the Pioneers topped the Black and Gold at home. Tipoff is 3:30 p.m.