February 14, 2005

Bulldogs Take Win Streak To The Road Wednesday at Saint Michael's

QUICKLY
Bryant takes its 10-game win streak on the road Wednesday when the Bulldogs visit Saint Michael’s for a 7:30 p.m. game in Colchester, Vt. ... Bryant is coming off an impressive 76-63 win over No. 24 Saint Anselm at home this past Saturday ... Bryant is currently ranked No. 6 in the Northeast Region and during its current win streak, the Bulldogs have knocked off Southern N.H., UMass Lowell, Saint Anselm, and Saint Rose ... Bryant has not lost since Jan. 11 vs. Merrimack ... The Bulldogs will close out the regular season with three games on the road starting Wednesday at Saint Michael’s. The Bulldogs will travel to top-ranked Bentley Saturday (1:30 p.m.) and visit Merrimack Monday ... The Northeast-10 tournament starts Feb. 26.

SATURDAY RECAP - Bryant 76, No. 24 Saint Anselm 63
One of the keys to Bryant’s recent success has been the play of senior swingman Mario Correia (Brockton, Mass.) and on Saturday, Correia took it to another level with a career-high 28 points in the team’s upset of Saint Anselm before 1,323 fans at the Chace Athletic Center ... Correia was 11-for-20 from the floor with four three-pointers in the game while junior guard John Williams (Springfield, Mass.) netted 21 including five 3-pointers. At one point, Williams drained FOUR STRAIGHT THREE’S, with two coming from nearly 24-feet away. For his efforts. Correia was named Northeast-10 Player of the Week.

LOOKING AT SAINT MICHAEL’S
Saint Michael’s comes into Wednesday’s game with a 7-17 record overall and 4-15 mark in the Northeast-10. The Purple Knights, 5-6 at home this year, are coming off a tough 71-69 loss to American International in overtime on Saturday. Prior to that game, SMC were winners of two-straight at home, defeating Le Moyne and Assumption. Freshman James Sorrentine of Pawtucket, RI is making a strong case for freshman of the year honors in the conference as the Saint Raphael product leads the Purple Knights with a 15.2 ppg scoring average and has made 90 three’s this year. Head Coach Tom O’Shea is in his eighth year at Saint Michael’s.

CORREIA EARNS WEEKLY HONOR
Senior guard Mario Correia (Brockton, Mass.) was named the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week for Feb. 14, the first such honor for a Bryant basketball player this season. Correia had a career-high 28 points and eight rebounds in the team’s win over No. 24 Saint Anselm on Saturday. He had 21 points plus eight rebounds in the team’s win at Le Moyne on Tuesday night. For the week, Correia averaged 24.5 ppg on 20 of 40 shooting in two games, made 6 of 11 three-point attempts.

BULLDOG BULLETS
* Mike Williams (Ellington, Conn.) is currently No. 3 all-time in career rebounds with 890
* Mike Williams is also 15th all-time witih 1,176 career points and 1st with 271 blocks. Williams is the holder of Bryant’s blocks in a game (11 vs. Le Moyne), season (90 as a sophomore) and career (271).
* Mike Williams needs 9 POINTS to move into 14th all time in scoring and 27 for 13th.
* John Williams (Springfield, Mass.) is second in the conference in scoring (19.3 ppg)
* John Williams is also 2nd in 3FG per game with 3.41; 3rd in 3FG% at .446; and 5th in steals (2.09)
* The 10-game win streak is the best since the 1977-78 squad won 12 in-a-row. Bryant’s best win-streak last year was 8 games. The school record for consecutive wins is 22.
* John Williams’ best game this year was 33 points vs. Pace in which he hit 7 three’s
* John Williams also had 27 vs. Maryland and 21 vs. UConn in exhibitions
* Mario Correia (Brockton, Mass.) has scored 20-plus points in three-straight games
* Correia is second in the conference with a .459 three-point field goal percentage

JUST THE FACTS
Some key numbers to look at during Bryant’s 10-game win streak (since Jan. 11th loss to Merrimack):
* Bryant is outscoring opponents by an average of 15.2 points in 10 games (74.0 to 58.8)
* Bryant is out-rebounding opponents by 1.5 rebounds a game
* Bryant is shooting 47.2 percent from the floor, opponents at 38.0 percent
* Bryant has made 76 three’s (7.6 average)
* Bryant is averaging just 12.3 turnovers a game - Opponents are averaging 16.8
* Bryant has 99 steals, opponents just 62
* During the wins streak, Bryant is 5-0 at home AND 5-0 on the road.

BULLDOG BITES
Wednesday’s game vs. Saint Michael’s will be the 112th game coached by Max Good at Bryant. It will also be Good’s 359th as a head coach in 13 seasons ... After posting a 12-3 record at home last season, the Bulldogs are 9-4 this year at the Chace Athletic Center ... The Bulldogs are 8-2 away from home and 6-2 on the road in conference games.