FULL GAME NOTES
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THE PARTICULARS
After having an entire week off due to Winter Storm Nemo, the Bulldogs just couldn't find their rhythm as they fell to Mount St. Mary's, 84-70, on the road Thursday night. Bryant will try to earn a weekend split Saturday afternoon as the Black and Gold travel to Staten Island, N.Y., to take on a Wagner side that has won five-of-seven and currently sits in fourth place in the league standings. The Bulldogs earned an 82-59 victory — their largest of the season — over the Seahawks in the teams' first meeting of the year, Jan. 19 in Smithfield, R.I., and go for the season sweep in Saturday's return trip. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m., and the game can be seen LIVE on NECfrontrow.com.
THE SERIES
Bryant was able to end a three-game Wagner winning streak within the all-time series the last time these two teams met, picking up just its second victory in six all-time meetings. The victory was the first for the Bulldogs on their home court and first against the Seahawks since Feb. 18, 2010, when a pair of free throws from now-
senior Raphael Jordan in the final eight-tenths of a second earned Bryant a 53-51 victory on the road. Bryant will be looking for its first-ever season sweep of the Seahawks on Saturday afternoon, and the teams have split the only two previous games at the Spiro Sports Center.
SCOUTING WAGNER
When Wagner left Smithfield just over a month ago, the Seahawks had lost three straight to fall to 3-3 in NEC play. Since then, the Green and White have found their groove, winning five of their last seven games to vault themselves into fourth in the league standings. They are coming off a 101-82 victory over Central Connecticut Thursday night, when they shot 61 percent from the field and 60 percent from beyond the arc. The Seahawks posted five double-digit scorers, led by Marcus Burton's 25 points. On the season, Jonathon Williams leads three players averaging double-figures with 14.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Voted the league's best defender a year ago, Kenneth Ortiz has chipped in 12 points per outing and leads the team with 119 assists and 47 steals. Latif Rivers (13.0) is the other player averaging double-digits, and all three are averaging 13 points per game in league play. Wagner posts a +5.4 rebounding advantage and a +2.4 scoring advantage in the NEC.
LAST TIME AGAINST WAGNER (January 19, 2013)
Led by junior Alex Francis's second-straight double-double effort, five Bulldogs reached double-figures to propel the Bryant University men's basketball to its eighth-consecutive victory, defeating Wagner, 82-59, Saturday at the Chace Athletic Center.
The Bulldogs led from start to finish to top Wagner in Smithfield for the first time in four tries, taking a 10-point margin into the halftime break before using a 25-6 run that spanned nine full minutes in the second half to pull away for a 26-point lead, 69-43, with less than seven minutes remaining in the contest.
A trifecta from Wagner's Dwaun Anderson stunted the stretch, but it was too little too late for the Seahawks to catch up to a Bryant side that was clicking on all cylinders, as the Bulldogs maintained a 20-point advantage through the final buzzer.
Five Bulldogs hit the double-figure scoring mark for the fourth-straight game at home and the fourth time this season. Sophomore
Dyami Starks paced Bryant with a game-high 17 points and three boards, while senior
Frankie Dobbs chipped in 15 points and five assists in 33 minutes of play. Francis snatched a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with his 12 points for his second-straight double-double (fourth of the season), while junior
Corey Maynard added 11 points and six assists and sophomore
Joe O'Shea put up 12 points and four boards off the bench. Jonathon Williams led the Seahawks with 17 points and nine rebounds, with Eric Fanning adding 13 points of his own off the Wagner bench.
Bryant shot lights out from the field, once again eclipsing the 50 percent mark (56.3) for the game, including hitting 8-of-16 from deep. Wagner finished the game at a 33.3 percent clip, knocking down just five of its 26 attempts from long range. The Seahawks edged the hosts in rebounding, grabbing 36 boards to Bryant's 30, however the Bulldogs dominated the lane, scoring 36 of their 82 in the paint.
After jumping out to a quick 7-0 start, the Bulldogs allowed the Seahawks to turn two careless turnovers into baskets on the other end, cutting the Bryant lead to just three at the first media break. Tough defense by both teams made points hard to come by early on as Bryant maintained a slim, 11-6, edge nearly nine minutes in.
The Bulldogs continued their aggressive play, but Wagner would not allow the home team to pull away as the lead remained steady at five, 19-14, with seven minutes to go in the opening frame. From there, the Black and Gold opened a 7-2 run, pushing the lead to 10 with under four minutes to play. Bryant would take its largest advantage of the half with 20 ticks left before the intermission off a pair of
Shane McLaughlin free throws, but Wagner's Josh Thompson would return the favor to send the teams into the break with a 36-26 score tilted toward the home side.
Neither team wasted any time trying to set the tone in the second stanza, as both Bryant and Wagner opened the final 20 minutes on fire from the field. As the frame progressed, the Bulldogs began to make their push as a pair of deep trifectas from Dobbs opened up a 53-37 Bryant advantage, helping to kickstart the run that took up much of the frame.
An O'Shea deep ball extended the Black and Gold advantage to 19 points, 58-39, with 11:29 left to play, and successful trips to the line from Dobbs and Starks pushed the Bryant edge to 23 points, as the hosts led, 62-39, nearly halfway through the second period. The Bulldogs would push their lead to a game-high 26 with 9:20 to play on a Starks 3-pointer and would hit that mark three more times before the final whistle, sending the Seahawks home with their third-straight loss after starting out league play 3-0.
LAST TIME OUT: BULLDOGS SUNK BY PRESCOTT'S 44 POINTS
The Bryant University men's basketball team couldn't contain Mount St. Mary's Sam Prescott Thursday night, as the junior guard scored a career-high 44 points to lead the Mountaineers to an 84-70 victory at Knott Arena.
Three weeks after taking the Bulldogs to overtime in Smithfield, R.I., the Mountaineers exacted some revenge on Thursday, handing the Black and Gold their third Northeast Conference loss of the season and snapping the team's three-game winning streak to keep Bryant winless in Emmitsburg in five tries all time.
Prescott was the story throughout, as the junior poured in 28 first-half points to give The Mount a first-half lead it would not relinquish. He followed that with a 16-point second half to help the Mountaineers finally pull away from a pesky Bulldog side. Kelvin Parker was the only other Mountaineer in double-figures, as he finished with 19 points. Prescott finished 16-of-24 from the field and 10-of-14 from beyond the arc. Backed by his 10 trifectas, the Mountaineers shot 17-of-33 from beyond the arc.
Prescott had a first half to remember as the junior poured in 28 points. Having previously posted a season-high of 16 points, Prescott started the game a perfect 7-of-7 from the field, including 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. With Prescott's hot shooting and a stifling defense, the Mountaineers were able to turn a 16-12 Bryant lead on its head. Prescott started the turnaround with consecutive triples and eventually scored 11 of the next 13 Mount points to make it 25-21 with 10:44 remaining.
Trailing, 31-21, Bryant was able to slow the Mountaineers offense enough to pull back into the game. The Bulldogs held Mount St. Mary's without a field goal for nearly five minutes, pulling within 31-26 thanks to five-straight points. Prescott, however, ended the run with five of his own off a layup and a trifecta, pushing the lead back to 10, 36-26. He then ended the half with five more points, giving the Mountaineers a hefty lead at the break.
Bryant put forth a valiant effort coming out of the break led by junior
Alex Francis. Following a
Dyami Starks three, Francis would score the next 11 Bulldog points, making it a seven point game, 51-44. He started the run with a monstrous one-handed jam and finished it with a layup at the 16:09 mark. A trio of threes, however, from Prescott and Parker ended the Bryant run and pushed the Mountaineer lead to 64-50 with 11:33 remaining. The Bulldogs were never able to get closer as the Mountaineers finished the second half canning 9-of-10 from the charity stripe.
Francis also helped the Bulldogs get out to a strong start in the first half, as he scored Bryant's first six points of the game. Back-to-back baskets from
Vlad Kondratyev pushed the Bryant lead to four and
Frankie Dobbs's first three of the afternoon replenished the four-point lead at 19-15. That would be it for the Bulldogs, however, as they were outscored 27-9 the final 12:40 of the first half.
The Bulldogs shot 60 percent from the field in the second half thanks to the hot hands of Francis, who notched his sixth double-double of the season with 25 points (11-of-16) and 10 rebounds. He was joined in double-figures by
Joe O'Shea and Dobbs. Both did a majority of their damage in the second half, as O'Shea poured in eight (6-of-7 free throws) of his 13 and Dobbs added seven of his 10. Mount St. Mary's pressure defense forced Bryant into 15 turnovers and limited the Bulldogs to just nine assists. On the other hand, the Mountaineers posted 22 assists and turned the ball over just six times.
BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The Bulldogs are 9-3 against the Northeast Conference in 2012-13 with a 24-56 record against current league members since joining the Division I ranks. All-time against current NEC schools, the Bulldog basketball program is 52-110 (.321), having most frequently faced off against former Northeast-10 Conference (DII) member Quinnipiac (18-42).
QUICK HITS
» Streak Snapped: Two streaks were snapped in Thursday's 84-70 loss to Mount St. Mary's — Bryant's three-game winning streak and its 2-0 record in games played after six or more days of rest. The Bulldogs had a full week off thanks to Winter Storm Nemo.
» 44 for Prescott: Mount St. Mary's junior Sam Prescott had a night to remember Thursday, as the guard scored a career-high 44 points against the Bulldogs. The point total is the most by an opposing player in Bryant's Division I history. Prescott hit 10 threes to help The Mount convert 17 as a team, another DI record for Bulldog competitors.
» Playing from Behind: Bryant's 42-28 halftime deficit against the Mountaineers marked just the fifth time this season the team has been behind at the intermission.
» Not So Free: The Bulldogs finished 14-of-24 (58.3%) from the free throw line on Thursday. The percentage marks the second lowest of the season for the Black and Gold and just the third time they haven't eclipsed the 60 percent mark in a game this season. The last time they shot below 60 percent was at Boston College (53.3%) on Nov. 25.
» Double-Double: Alex Francis put up his sixth double-double of the season and the 22nd of his career on Thursday with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Of his six this season, four of them have come against NEC competition.
» No Assistance: Thursday marked just the second time all season the Bulldogs finished with less than 10 assists in a game (9). The only other time occurred on Jan. 24 against Sacred Heart. Mount St. Mary's, on the other hand, dished out 22 assists.
» He Shoots, He Scores: Either Dyami Starks, Alex Francis or Frankie Dobbs has scored 25 or more points in each of the last six games.
» Bulldogs Headline NCAA's DI Men's Basketball Most Improved Team List: With a 16-7 overall record entering the final stretch of the regular season, Bryant currently boasts an impressive 17.5-game difference from last season (2-28) to this one. Next on the list is Towson, with a 15.5-game differential, and the NCAA Division I record for Most Improved Team from one season to the next stands at 17 games, set by Mercer in 2002-03 and UTEP in 2003-04. Last season's most improved teams — Manhattan and Nevada — sported a 13.5-game turnaround at season's end.
» Tremendous Turnaround: The NCAA equation for most improved also takes number of losses into consideration, but Bryant remains the most improved team in the nation when it comes to pure win turnaround as well. The Bulldogs currently boast 14 more wins in 2012-13 than it had a season ago, one more than the next best team on the list (Towson, 13).
» Power Outage: For the first time all season Thursday, the Black and Gold did not attempt 10 or more shots from beyond the arc. The previous season low was 14, but Bryant shattered that against The Mount, attempting just eight three-pointers, finishing the game just 2-of-8.
» Winning Ways: Bryant's 16th win of the season, 84-77, Feb. 7 against St. Francis Brooklyn guarantees the Bulldogs a winning record in their first season of NCAA Division I eligibility. The Bulldogs are just the sixth team in the last 20 years to post an above .500 campaign in its first year of full Division I membership.
» Movin' On Up: The Bulldogs have now been ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 for seven-straight weeks, ranked No. 22 entering this week's action. Bryant cracked the prestigious list for the first time in program history on Dec. 31 at No. 25, and since then has spent two weeks at No. 22, three weeks at No. 21 and a week at No. 17.
» 16 and Counting: The Bulldogs keep improving on their Division I single-season wins record, picking up their 16th victory of the year at home against St. Francis Brooklyn Feb. 7. Bryant has now won more games this season than in the last three campaigns combined (12). The Bulldogs entered the 2012-13 season with just 20 total wins in their brief Division I history.
UP NEXT
Bryant returns home to begin the final stretch run of the 2013 regular season when it welcomes Central Connecticut to the Chace Athletic Center on Thursday, Feb. 21. Starting with the Blue Devils, the Bulldogs will play four of their final five games in Smithfield.
MAKING NEC HISTORY
Bryant's spectacular turnaround has not only made waves nationally this season, it is also already near the top of the league's all-time record books. In the 32-year history of the Northeast Conference — and this with six games still to play in the regular season — Bryant already ranks a close second on the list of the biggest year-to-year jump in NEC annals, just one game short of CCSU's 15-game improvement from four wins in 1997-98 to 19 in 1998-99. Limiting the scope to just conference play, Bryant's eight-game jump now ranks second in league history behind LIU Brooklyn, which went from five to 15 wins en-route to the NEC title in 1997.
O'SHEA BACK TO LIFE
After a pair of off games against Monmouth and St. Francis Brooklyn, Joe O'Shea found his form once again on Thursday, scoring 13 points and hauling in four caroms. On the night, O'Shea was a perfect 3-of-3 from the field and knocked down a career-high seven free throws (7-of-8). O'Shea had scored just nine points on 2-of-11 shooting and picked up four total rebounds in the last two games combined.
TWENTY SOMETHINGS
Three Bulldogs have combined to record 20 or more points in a game 21 times this season, most recently against Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 14. Sophomore Dyami Starks leads the way with 10 such outings, while junior Alex Francis has eight, including three in the last four games. Senior Frankie Dobbs has chipped in three this year, including a career-high 27 points in a win over Monmouth Feb. 2. Two players have recorded 20+ points in the same contest four times, including Feb. 7 against the Terriers, with Starks (25) and Francis (23) teamming up for the feat. Starks (20) and Francis (21) also paired up at Lehigh Dec. 29, while Starks (29) and Dobbs (26) did so at Robert Morris Jan. 3 and repeated the feat with 20 and 24 points, respectively, at home against Quinnipiac Jan. 10. One of these three players has recorded 25 points or more in each of the last six games, as well.
50/50
For the 10th time this season, the Bulldogs shot better than 50 percent from the floor in their last outing. On the season, Bryant has shot better than 50 percent in both halves six times and converted 50 percent or better from 3-point range four time this season (vs. Binghamton, at Robert Morris, vs. Quinnipiac, vs. Wagner).
