FULL GAME NOTES
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Looking to remain unbeaten in NEC action, the Bulldogs return home to host Mount St. Mary's at the Chace Athletic Center Thursday night at 7 p.m. in search of their seventh-consecutive victory.

Mount St. Mary's has won six of seven all-time meetings between the two programs and swept the Bulldogs in a two-game series a season ago. Bryant's only win over The Mount came at the Chace Athletic Center, 62-60, on Jan. 29, 2011 thanks to a buzzerbeater by Alex Francis, but Mount St. Mary's still holds a 2-1 series edge in Smithfield. Five of the seven all-time tilts have come at the Division I level, with the series beginning on Dec. 28, 1982 in Emmitsburg, Md.

Rashad Whack is leading a Mount St. Mary's side that has struggled as of late, averaging 12.8 points per game as the team's only double-figure scorer. The Mount has won just two of its last eight contests and has been overmatched on offense and on the glass, putting up just 62.1 points and 25.7 rebounds each time out. Kristijian Krajina paces the side on the boards with 3.4 per game, followed by Whack's 3.3 rebounding average, but the team has struggled to keep opposing offenses in check, allowing its competition to shot at a 55.5 percent clip from the field and convert 43.9 percent of its shots from beyond the arc.

The Bulldogs and The Mount last met in the 2011-12 regular-season finale at the Chace Athletic Center Feb. 25, a game Mount St. Mary's won, 71-62. Bryant cut a nine-point second-half deficit to just three with less than five minutes to play, but the hosts would score just one more bucket as the visiting Mountaineers used timely scoring to cushion their lead for the eventual victory. Alex Francis recorded the 16th double-double of his career in the game with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Frankie Dobbs added 17 points in the losing effort. Kelvin Parker also picked up a double-double for the visitors (15p, 10r) and Julian Norfleet finished the day with 12.

The Bulldogs are 4-0 against the Northeast Conference in 2012-13 with an 19-53 record against current league members since joining the Division I ranks. All-time against current NEC members, the Bulldog basketball program is 47-107 (.305), having most frequently faced off against former Northeast-10 Conference (DII) member Quinnipiac (18-42).

» Road Warriors: Bryant is second in the nation when it comes to true road wins, taking six victories on unfriendly courts. That number ties the Bulldogs with Albany, Bucknell, Louisiana Tech, Murray State, Stephen F. Austin and Texas-Arlington, while Stony Brook leads the Division I ranks with seven true road wins in 2012-13. Bryant's six victories on opposing territory already trump the team's road-win total from the last three seasons combined (4) and is just a single true road win shy to tying all previous road victories at the Division I level (7 since 2008-09).

» Tremendous Turnaround: Bryant is the most improved team in the nation when it comes to pure win turnaround, as the Bulldogs already boast nine more wins in 2012-13 than it had a season ago. The next highest number for win improvement is seven from Towson.

» And Then There Was One: Bryant is the last remaining unbeaten in the Northeast Conference, with a 4-0 start to the league slate. 

» Bracketology Breakthrough: Bryant appears on ESPN's Bracketology with Joe Lunardi for the first time ever this week.

» RPI Update: The Bulldogs are up to No. 114 in this week's RPI rankings, the highest of any NEC team.

» Movin' On Up: The Bulldogs are ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 for the third-straight week, holding fast at No. 21 for the second week in a row. Bryant first cracked the prestigious list 25 for the first time program history on Dec. 31, and Bryant is the only NEC team to appear in the poll.

» Red Hot: Bryant's current winning streak stands at six entering Thursday night's tilt and is the most consecutive victories for the program at the DI level. The Black and Gold have now won 11 of their last 13 games, and the Bulldogs' 4-0 record against the Northeast Conference marks the program's best league start since the team began playing a full conference schedule in 2009-10.

It's no secret that junior forward Alex Francis is one of the Bulldogs' top threats, but the Harlem, N.Y. native surpassed even those already lofty expectations last week, averaging a double-double with 21 points and 12.5 rebounds per game to guide Bryant to a pair of wins as the Bulldogs stay red hot. Francis posted his best game of the year Saturday at Central Connecticut, pulling down a career-high 18 rebounds — the most single-game rebounds by any player in the program's Division I history — while also scoring a season-high 26 points, 20 of which came in the second half alone. For his efforts, the former NEC Rookie of the Year earned his first Choice Hotels/NEC Player of the Week selection, marking the third-straight week that the honor has gone to a Bulldog.

Two of just six active 1,000-point scorers in the Northeast Conference, both Alex Francis and Frankie Dobbs rank near the top of multiple NEC active leaders lists. Francis and Dobbs are fifth (1200) and sixth (1033), respectively, among active scoring leaders, while the former sits sixth on the depth chart for total career rebounds (590), fourth in 20-point games (19) and third in 30-point games (2). With 404, Dobbs sits third among active players for career assists and is ninth among active players for 20-point games (10).

Single-game and season ticket packages are still available for the 2012-13 men's and women's basketball seasons. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.bryantbulldogs.com/tickets or by calling the Bryant Athletics Ticket Office at 401-519-TIXX.

CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE GAME?

Bryant University Athletics and the Northeast Conference have partnered with Pack Network to create NEC Front Row, the home for all NEC men's and women's basketball broadcasts in 2012-13. NEC Front Row brings viewers an industry-leading video streaming solution for more than 100 Bryant University home contests during the 2012-13 athletic seasons, including live, free-of-charge broadcasts of all 15 Bulldog home men's basketball games. Live event productions include multiple camera angles, an on-screen scoreboard and state-of-the-art graphics. Visit www.necfrontrow.com for more information and a schedule of events.

For the fifth-consecutive season, all Bryant University basketball home games and select road contests can be heard LIVE on WOON 1240 AM. Veteran sportscaster Jon Wallach of 98.5 FM The Sports Hub Boston returns to call the action as the voice of the Bulldogs, alongside color analyst Tristan Hobbes.