Bryant Weekly Sports Update: Bryant Men's and Women's Swim Teams Conclude Regular Season With Wins at Salem State; Basketball Teams Host Le Moyne Tuesday Night At The Chace

 This Week in Bryant Sports
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Monday, Feb. 6
No events

Tuesday, Feb. 7
Women’s Basketball hosts Le Moyne, 5:30 pm
Men’s Basketball hosts Le Moyne, 7:30 pm

Wednesday, Feb. 8
No events

Thursday, Feb. 9
No events

Friday, Feb. 10
No events

Saturday, Feb. 11
Women’s Basketball at Saint Anselm, 1:30 pm
Men’s Basketball at Saint Anselm, 3:30 pm

Sunday, Feb. 12
Indoor Track at BU / Tufts

WEEKLY UPDATE

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MEN’S BASKETBALL  (15-7, 10-7 NE-10)
Bulldogs Starting to Heat Up; Team Enters Tuesday’s Tilt With Le Moyne Ranked No. 8 Regionally
    The Bryant men’s basketball team continues to get hot at just the right time as the Bulldogs take a two-game win streak into Tuesday’s game at home against Le Moyne (9-13, 8-6 NE-10).  Bryant entered last week ranked No. 8 regionally, but will look to move up a few spots after earning an 82-66 win over UMass Lowell (ranked No. 2 regionally) last Wednesday, and following a 62-59 win over Southern New Hampshire (No. 6 regionally) this past Saturday.  John Williams (Springfield, Mass.) had a season-best 31 points in the win over UMass Lowell.  Williams posted an amazing week, averaging 25.5 ppg and making 24 three-pointers during a four-game span.  He is currently seventh all-time in scoring at Bryant with 1,536 career points and needs just 11 three-pointers to become Bryant’s all-time career leader in three’s.  Williams has 284 entering the week and is closing in on Jason Bennett’s record of 295 from 1997 to 2000.  Bryant will play four of its last five regular season games at home starting with Tuesday’s 7:30 pm game against Le Moyne.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (5-17, 2-15 NE-10)
Bulldogs Split Action Last Week With A Home Win Over Lowell
      The Bryant women’s basketball team picked up a 57-54 win over UMass Lowell at the Chace Athletic Center last Wednesday.   Graduate student Shannon Perry (Providence, RI) had 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Bulldogs while Joanna Skiba (Providence, RI) added 13.  The Bulldogs would drop a 78-70 decision at Southern New Hampshire Saturday as Perry and Skiba led the way offensively once again with 27 and 21 points respectively.   The Bulldogs will host Le Moyne (11-11, 7-10 NE-10) Tuesday at 5:30 pm.   

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING:
Team Picks Up Big Win Saturday at Salem State To Close Out Dual Meet Season;  Individuals to Compete at New England’s
   The Bryant University men’s and women’s swim teams picked up a pair of wins Saturday as the Bulldogs swept a dual meet at Salem State.  The men outscored Salem, 142-59 to pick up their second win of the year, while the women earned their third dual win with a 112-78 decision.   Andrea Geoffroy (Belchertown, MA) touched the wall first in the women's 50 yard backstroke in 30.75 seconds and added a win in the women's 100 yard backstroke by clocking in at 1:06.35.  Teammate Christa Berard (Alfred, Maine) claimed first place in the 50 breastroke with a time of 37.28 seconds while Kristen Brekne (Stony Brook NY) earned a pair of first place finishes in both the 50 butterfly (29.64) and 100 yard individual medley (1:08.89). On the men's side, Ray Savner (Bethlehem, Conn.) placed first in the 50 free with a time of 22.89 seconds, and followed with a first place in the 100 free in 50.51.  Chris Desmarais (Burlington, Conn.) won the men's 50 butterfly with in 27.37.   Bryant will look to send possibly eight qualifiers to the New England Championships February, 18th at Bentley College in Waltham, MA.  
  
INDOOR TRACK
Men and Women Place Second and Third Respectively at Smith College Tartan Invitational Saturday
The Bryant men's and women's indoor track teams placed second and third respectively at Saturday's Smith College Tartan Invitational.  Sophomore Hafiz Greigre (Attleboro, MA) captured first in the men's 55m and 200m and would add a first-place finish in the men's long jump with a school record record mark of 22 feet, 1 inch.  Natasha Stevenson (Haverhill, MA) was second in the finals of the 55 meters (7.52) and took first in the 200 meters (26.25).  Stevenson would later take top honors in the women's long jump, clearing 16-6.  The women's 4x200 meter relay team of Jessica Cegarra (Danville, NH), Amanda Early (Haverhill, MA), Justine Douvadjian (Andover, MA), and Stevenson set a school record with a first place finish time of 1
minute, 50.12 seconds.  

BASEBALL (0-3, 0-0 NE-10)
Delta State Sweeps Three-Game Series From Bulldogs
The Bryant University baseball team dropped a three-game weekend series at Delta State this past weekend as the third-ranked Statesmen took all three games.  The hosts swept a doubleheader Saturday winning, 12-5, 5-1, and followed with an 8-1 win Sunday. The Bulldogs will be idle this week before heading to Florida Feb. 16-19 to face Rollins, Florida Southern, and Barry University over the busy weekend.


DOWN THE STRETCH ...

FOOTBALL SIGNS 19 STUDENT-ATHLETES
A total of 19 football players have signed national letters of intent to play at Bryant University.  The announcement was made this past week by third-year Bulldog football coach Marty Fine and Bryant interim director of athletics John Ruppert. Bryant posted a 7-3 record in 2005, setting a school record for wins in a season and earned a spot in the NCAA Division II Northeast Regional rankings for the first time in the program's history. 

The 19 new recruits (alphabetically):

Tom Byrne, LB, 5-10, 210, Tewksbury, MA (Tewksbury Memorial)
Nick Candito, OLB/WR, 6-3, 202, West Boylston, MA  (St. John's HS)
Doug Emerzian, TE, 6-4, 215, Rowley, MA  (Triton Regional)
Lindsey Gamble, RB, 5-9, 190, Boston Mass (Reading Memorial HS)  Patrick Gauthier, LB/OT, 6-2, 250, Woonsocket, RI (Woonsocket HS)
Peter Gauthier, LB/OG, 6-2, 260, Woonsocket, RI (Woonsocket HS)
Kevin Goncalves, WR/DB, 5-10, 170, Hyannis, MA (The Tilton School)
Bobby Heilmann, PK, 5-10, 160, Wyckoff, NJ (Ramapo HS)
Pete Krafka, OL, 6-3, 275, Milford, MA (Bishop Feehan)
Kyle Laham , QB/DB, 6-0, 190, Westborough, MA (Westborough HS)
Ben Lyons, OL, 6-7, 305, Westfield, MA (Avon Old Farms)
Zack Norley, QB, 6-4, 195, Sudbury, MA (Lincoln-Sudbury HS)
Paul Polomski, LB, 6-0, 215, Franklin MA (Franklin HS)
Khalel Pritchard, QB/DB, 5-9, 160, Boston MA (Newton North)
Nick Scardelli, QB, 5-10, 160, Manalapan, NJ (Manalapan HS)
Kevin Skelly, OL, 6-0, 250, Brookfield, CT (Brookfield HS)
Vinton South, QB, 6-2, 185, Dumont, NJ (Dumont HS)
Dan Weaver, LB, 6-0, 220, Bloomfield, PA (West Perry HS)
Andre Whyte, RB, 6-1, 195, Bennington, VT (Mount Anthony HS)


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