Bryant Men Win Eighth-Straight, 77-72 Over SNHU
February 5, 2005
SMITHFIELD, RI -- Mario Correia (Brockton, Mass.) scored 22 points and Mike Williams (Ellington, Conn.) had 18 as the Bryant men's basketball team won its eighth-straight game Saturday, defeating Southern N.H. 76-72 before 1,015 at the Chace Athletic Center Saturday afternoon. Southern N.H. came into the game ranked fourth in the Northeast Region and tied for second in the conference standings.
Though it was only a regular-season game, there was certainly a playoff-like atmosphere as both teams played well throughout the game. In all, there were 20 lead changes and seven ties throughout the afternoon.
With Bryant holding a slim, 69-68 lead with under two minutes remaining, Southern New Hampshire's Allen Gould (Grand Rapids, MI) hit a jumper in the lane to put the Penmen up 70-69 with 46.1 seconds left.
On Bryant's next possession, guard John Williams (Springfield, Mass.) was fouled near midcourt by Miguel Gonzalez (Jamaica, N.Y.) and proceeded to make both free throws to put Bryant back on top 71-70 with 30.1 seconds left.
Southern N.H. (17-5, 13-5 NE-10) had a chance to regain the lead but guard John Baiano (Staten Island, N.Y.) stepped on the baseline, turning the ball over to the Bulldogs with 20.1 seconds left. Bryant would make 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch to help seal the victory.
It was the third game this season that Bryant has come back to win after trailing at the half and the second in-a-row after trailing at UMass Lowell on Wednesday.
The Bulldogs trailed, 37-36 at the half as Southern N.H. got a team-high 15 points off the bench from J.J. Harvey (Albany, N.Y.) and 14 from Gould. The Penmen shot the ball well, finishing the game shooting 50.0 percent from the floor and scoring 24 points in the paint. SNHU also out-rebounded the Bulldogs 34 to 25, but turned the ball over 23 times in the game.
Bryant (15-6, 11-6 NE-10), which has not lost a game since Jan. 11 (vs. Merrimack), shot 50.9 percent from the floor as John Williams rebounded from an eight-point game at Lowell with 16 points plus four assists and four steals.
Correia made 10 of 16 from the floor in the game and had four rebounds while Mike Williams had eight rebounds as the senior moved into third all-time for career rebounds in school history with 869 rebounds, trailing only Ernie De Witt and David Sorafine who each had more than 1,000 rebounds during their playing days.
Bryant, ranked 10th in last week's Northeast Region Poll, will travel to Le Moyne on Tuesday night and host Saint Anselm next Saturday in the final regular-season home game of the season.
