HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS- Bryant Men's Basketball Idle Until Dec. 29-30 Holiday Classic
BRYANT BASKETBALL
Dec. 15, 2006
BRYANT BASKETBALL TAKES A BREAK FOR EXAMS AND HOLIDAYS
Bulldogs Return To Action Hosting Holiday Tournament Dec.
29-30
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| THOUSAND- 200 MAN: Senior Chris Burns needs eight points to reach 1,000 for his career and just one more three-pointer for career number 200 for the Merrimack, NH native. http://www.dspics.com/ |
UPDATE
The Bryant University men's basketball team will have 16
days of rest for exams and the holidays before returning to action
on Friday, Dec. 29 when the Bulldogs host the annual Holiday
Classic at the Chace Athletic Center. The two-day tournament
will start with the Bulldogs facing Le Moyne in a conference game
at 5 pm and will follow with a matchup of Merrimack College and
Bridgeport at 7 pm. Bryant will take on Bridgeport on
Saturday, Dec. 30 at 3 p.m. The Bulldogs are coming off a 59-77
loss at Stonehill College on Dec. 13 as the Bulldogs struggled
offensively and never recovered after falling behind early to the
Skyhawks. Bryant is led by Chris Burns (Merrimack,
NH) who is averaging 13.9 ppg and has made 30 three's on
the season. Burns enters the Le Moyne game needing just eight
points to reach the 1,000 point mark in his career at Bryant.
HOLIDAYCLASSIC SCHEDULE (corrected)
Fri., Dec. 29 - Bryant vs. Le Moyne, 5 pm
Merrimack vs. Bridgeport, 7 pm
Sat., Dec. 30 - Merrimack vs. Le Moyne, 1 pm
Bryant vs. Bridgeport, 3 pm
NEXT UP
Bryant will resume Northeast-10 Conference action
following the Holiday Classic on January 3 when the Bulldogs open
2007 with a trip to Merrimack College.
Wed., Jan. 3 - at Merrimack, 7:30 pm
Sat. - Jan. 6 - SAINT ROSE, 3:30 pm NORTHEAST-10 PRESEASON POLL
The Bryant University men's basketball team has been selected to finish second in the Northeast-10 Conference in 2006-07 following a vote from the conference's head coaches. After claiming a share of the Northeast-10 regular season title last season, the Falcons of Bentley College are favored to finish first again this year as voted by the men's basketball coaches. Overall, the Falcons received 201 votes to put them on the top of the preseason coaches' poll. Bentley tied Bryant University with six first place votes in the poll. However, the Falcons edged the Bulldogs, who finished second in the ranking with 183 total points. The College of Saint Rose followed in third place with 182 points and claimed two first place votes, while Southern New Hampshire University (169) and Pace University (158) rounded out the top five respectively.
RECENTLY VS. LE MOYNE AND BRIDGEPORT
Bryant has won three straight games vs. the Dolphins
of Le Moyne College, including last year's 72-67
win in Smithfield, RI - the only meeting of the year between the
two conference foes. Chris Burns had 16 points and
Jon Ezeokoli had 13 as the Bulldogs held on for
the win. Le Moyne shot 55.1 percent from the floor with Matt
Cooper scoring a game-high 20 on 10 of 14 shooting. Damini
Corbin had 18. Bryant met Bridgeport once
last year as well, winning 78-76 in the second game of the year at
the University of Bridgeport Tournament.
Burns had a career-high 29 points in the
win.
WINNING WAYS
Bryant has posted three-straight 20-win seasons in
five seasons under Max Good. The Bulldogs have
qualified for three-straight NCAA tournaments, going 23-10 in
2003-04 while following with a 25-9 campaign in 2004-05, reaching
the NCAA Division II Championship game in March of '05. Last
year, Bryant went 21-10 overall.
BURNS NEARING 1,000
Guard Chris Burns of Merrimack, N.H.
needs only eight points to reach 1,000 points in his career at
Bryant. After scoring 20 points in the loss to Stonehill -
the 100th game of Burns' career - the senior guard has 992
career points. The team's leading scorer this season with
13.9 ppg, Burns will look to become the 30th player in school
history to reach the 1,000 point mark. Burns is only one
3-point field goal shy of 200 for his career, placing him third
all-time in school history behind John Williams (323) and Jason
Bennett (295).
QUICK LOOK AT THE BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs enter the season picked to finish second overall in the preseason Northeast-10 Conference coaches poll - the highest a Bryant team has been selected in the preseason poll. The Bulldogs opened the year with exhibition games at Syracuse (86-92 L) and UConn (45-70) and followed with an 85-63 loss at Philadelphia to open the season. The team rallied back to win two at home, defeating AIC in a non-conference affair and Saint Anselm. After falling to Franklin Pierce (for the second-straight season in Rindge, NH), the Bulldogs bounced back with a solid 62-48 win over Assumption at home on Nov. 29 and followed that with 69-66 win at UMass Lowell on Jon Ezeokoli's three-pointer with two seconds remaining. The streak would come to an end Dec. 5 with a 61-49 loss at seventh-ranked and preseason conference favorite Bentley. Bryant headed into the holiday exam period with a win over Southern NH (76-46) but dropped a tough 77-59 decision at Stonehill on Dec. 13.
THE COACH
Head Coach Max Good enters his sixth
season at the helm of the Bryant basketball team and is closing in
on win No. 100 at Bryant University. During his five seasons,
Good has led the Bulldogs to three-straight 20-win seasons and
three consecutive trips to the NCAA trip - highlighted by a trip to
the national championship game in March of 2005 where the Bulldogs
fell to Virginia Union by five. Good has a record of
98-66 while at Bryant and 207-204
during 15 seasons as a head coach, having previously coached at
UNLV and Eastern Kentucky.
Bryant's Coaching Victories
1. Tom Foliard 174 (1968-78, 174-88)
2. Leon Drury 126 (1978-89, 126-182)
3. Ed Reilly 109 (1989-01, 109-209)
4. Max Good 98 (2001-pre., 97-66)
THE COACHING STAFF
Deshon Gaither and Dwayne
Pina return for their second seasons at Bryant University
in 2006-07. Gaither came to Bryant from Charlotte, North Carolina
where he was an assistant with the A.B.A.'s Charlotte Thunder as
well as an advance scout for the N.B.A.'s Charlotte Bobcats. Pina,
a 2001 graduate of Boston College, was a walk-on in 1997 and earned
himself a scholarship with the Eagles, playing 78 total games for
B.C. In 1998-98, Pina started all 27 games for B.C. and ranked
seventh in the BIG EAST with 4.5 assists per game.
MEET THE FRESHMEN
The Bulldogs have three recruited freshmen on the roster
this season plus two additional walk-ons. Cecil
Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) is a 6-foot-5 forward who is
coming off a strong prep season at Maine Central Institute ...
Forward Dana Mauro (Wethersfield, Conn.) is a
6-foot-4 forward who was named first team all-state by the Hartford
Courant in 2005 and second team in 2006 ... Guard Ray
Witkos (Easthampton, Mass.) scored 1,578 career points at
Holyoke Catholic H.S. and was a co-recipient of the John "Honey"
Lohovich award as Western Mass. Division II Player of the Year; the
same award given to former Bryant standout John Williams ...
Freshman Chris Casey (Westborough, Mass.) is a
walk-on who was an all-state soccer player at Westborough HS ...
Anthony Thomas (Boston, Mass.) joined the Bulldogs
at Franklin Pierce after playing wide receiver for the Bryant
football team this fall.
HALL OF FAMER MAZZULA
Bryant will induct one of its all-time greats into its
Athletics Hall of Fame on Jan. 13 at the Bello Center.
Dan Mazzula enjoyed a tremendous four-year career
at Bryant, scoring 1,389 career pointsand holds teh school record
for single season free throw percentage at 91.3 percent (42 for 46)
during the 1977-78 season.
10 AVERAGING 10
Head coach Max Good is not afraid to go deep into the
bench. A total of 10 players are averaging at least 10
minutes a game this season.
BULLDOGS ON THE AIR
Bulldog basketball fans will be able to follow live
audio action of Bryant men's and women's games for
FREE throughout the season courtesy of Stretch
Internet this season. A complete schedule of games is listed on http://www.bryantbulldogs.com/ Fans can
also watch all conference games at a cost of $6.99 per gme at http://www.ne10.tv/.
NOTABLES ....
- Dan Hammond (Brunswick, Maine) needs ONE steal to break the school record for career steals. Hammond, the holder of Bryant's single game (9 vs. Merrimack) and season (72 in '04-05) steals record, has 184 career steals, tying Jerome Grier's '96 record of 184.
- Bryant has been out-rebounded in seven of nine games this season. The Bulldogs have controlled the edge in rebound in its last two games (vs. Southern NH 50 to 29 and Stonehill 36 to 35. The only other game Bryant out-rebounded an opponent this year was at Syracuse. Not against Le Moyne, but rather Syracuse University in a six-point exhibition loss at the Carrier Dome on Nov. 1.
- Bryant committed only 2 turnovers in the second half vs. Assumption
