Williams Paces Bulldogs To 88-60 Win Over Setters

January 25, 2005

Final Game Statistics

Chris Burns

SMITHFIELD, RI -- John Williams (Springfield, Mass.) scored 19 points and handed out seven assists to help lead the Bryant men's basketball team to its fourth-straight victory, defeating Pace University, 88-60 Tuesday night before 1,288 fans at the Chace Athletic Center. The Bulldogs improve to 11-6 overall and 7-6 in the Northeast-10. Pace, led by Frank Petersen's 12 points, drops to 11-8 overall and 8-6 in conference.

The Bulldogs led 39-27 at the half and watched Pace pull to within 42-32 in the first couple of minutes in the second half. But that would be as close as the Setters would get as the Bulldogs responded with a fast-break layup by Dan Hammond (Brunswick, Maine) that helped push the lead to 50-36 with 13:43 remaining. Following a putback by Mike Williams (Ellington, Conn.), Bulldog sophomore guard and Providence College transfer Chris Burns (Merrimack, N.H.) drained a long three to give Bryant its largest lead of the night, 73-53 with 6:42 left.

John Williams had five of Bryant's 11 three-point field goals as Hammond finished with 15 points and seven rebounds with Burns chipping in with 17 on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor - including three 3-pointers.

The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Bulldogs against Pace and also marked the first win against the Setters for fourth-year coach Max Good in five tries. Bryant will travel to Southern Connecticut on Thursday night and host Franklin Pierce this Saturday (3:30 p.m.) at the Chace Athletic Center.