February 11, 2005

Men's Basketball Goes For 10th-Straight Win Saturday

QUICKLY
Winners of nine in-a-row, the Bryant men’s basketball team hosts second-place Saint Anselm (19-4, 14-4) Saturday afternoon at the Chace Athletic Center ... Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ... Saturday’s game will be senior day for Bryant as the Bulldogs will honor seniors Mario Correia (Brockton, Mass.), Mike Williams (Ellington, Conn.), Josh Longstaff (Portland, Maine), Mike Niedzwicki (Sutton, Mass.), Cullen McCarthy (Mansfield, Mass.) and Jarett Love (Roselle, N.J.) prior to the start of the game ... Bryant is coming off a 56-49 win at Le Moyne College Tuesday night in Syracuse, N.Y. ... The Bulldogs (16-6, 12-6 NE-10) moved up in the regional rankings on Wednesday as the Bulldogs enter the weekend in ranked No. 6 in the region ... Saint Anselm is ranked No.3 in the regional poll ... The Hawks are coming off a 60-47 win over AIC Tuesday.

BULLDOGS ROLL PAST LE MOYNE TUESDAY, 56-49 FOR NINTH-STRAIGHT
The Bulldogs raced out to a 16-point early and rolled to its 9th-straight win ... The Bulldogs forced 16 Le Moyne turnovers and held the Dolphins to their lowest point total of the season as the hosts shot a dismal 25.4 percent from the floor ... Mario Correia continued his strong play with 21 points and eight rebounds while Dan Hammond had 10 points plus six rebounds ... Mike Williams had six of Bryant’s 9 total blocks in the game while guard Nathaniel Sudlow (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had two blocks ... Bryant’s bench out-scored Le Moyne’s 3-1 as John Fogarty (Smithfield, RI) came off the bench to hit three key free throws down the stretch to preserve the Bulldogs’ victory.

THE HAWKS OF SAINT ANSELM
Saint Anselm comes into today’s game winners of six-straight and in second-place in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Hawks, led by Jim Moore’s 18.3 points per game, are averaging 80.9 points per game as a team and shooting 40.2 percent from three-point territory. Matt Cahill is second on the team with 16.7 ppg while Jim Holsworth is next at 14.6 ppg. Bryant swept both meetings with Saint Anselm last season including a 77-67 win at the Chace Athletic Center on Jan. 28.

MIKE WILLIAMS RANKED NO. 3 ALL-TIME IN CAREER REBOUNDING
With his eight rebounds on Saturday vs. Southern N.H., senior Mike Williams moved into third place for career rebounds at Bryant. He enter’s Saturday’s game with Saint Anselm with 879 career rebounds at Bryant. Williams passed former teammate Jason Noel (868) for third and only trails Ernie DeWitt’s all-time mark of 1,036 rebounds. Dave Sorafine is second with 1,004. An Academic All-American nominee for 2005, Williams, with over 1,000 career points, is also the owner of Bryant’s school career blocks (261) and single season blocks (90) records.

STREAKING
Some key numbers to look at during Bryant’s eight-game win streak: The Bulldogs are averaging 76 ppg and allowing just 59.5 ... Bryant has made 61 three’s (8 per game), opponents just 42 (5 per game) ... Bryant has 94 offensive rebounds (Danny Hammond has 24 offensive boards during the run).

WILLIAMS ON THE OUTSIDE
Despite a tough outing vs. UMass Lowell (7 points), junior point guard John Williams came up big with 16 points including four key free throws in the final minute to help Bryant past Southern N.H. last Saturday but was held to eight points Tuesday at Le Moyne. Williams, who has 70 three’s this season (a career-best), is just 17 three’s shy of the school single-season record of 87 held by Romuald Augustin last year.

Notable games for John Williams
    Nov. 5 - at Maryland            27 points, 5 three’s, 1 steal, 3 turnovers in 33 minutes
    Nov. 11 - at UConn            21 points, 2 three’s, 3 assists, 0 turnovers in 34 minutes
    Dec. 1 - at Pace            33 points*, 7 three’s, 2 assists, 2 turnovers in 38 minutes
    Jan. 29 - Franklin Pierce        30 points, 6 three’s, 3 assists, 3 steals, 35 minutes
       * career high

BULLDOG BITES
Saturday’s game vs. Saint Anselm will be the 111th game coached by Max Good at Bryant. It will also be Good’s 358th as a head coach in 13 seasons ... After posting a 12-3 record at home last season, the Bulldogs are 8-4 this year at the Chace Athletic Center.

SENIOR DAY SATURDAY
With only two more home games following today’s tilt with Franklin Pierce, Bryant will honor seniors Jarett Love (Roselle, N.J.), Josh Longstaff (Portland, Maine), Mike Niedzwiecki (Sutton, Mass.), Mario Correia (Brockton, Mass.), Cullen McCarthy (Mansfield, Mass.), and Mike Williams (Ellington, Conn.) who will be playing for the final time at home. Mike Williams, a graduate who was granted a medical redshirt, is the only player on the Bryant roster to play for former coach Ed Reilly.