Men's Basketball Ready To Tangle With No. 8 Bentley Tuesday Night
December 4, 2006
BULLDOGS READY FOR BENTLEY TUESDAY NIGHT
UPDATE
The Bryant men's basketball team picked up a pair of
conference wins last week, defeating Assumption College 62-48
Wednesday and UMass Lowell, 69-66 in dramatic fashion
Saturday. In the Lowell game, Bryant led by 10 with just over
four minutes remaining, but following a frantic rally to tie the
game by the River Hawks, Bryant senior Jon Ezeokoli (South
Orange, NJ) calmly hit a fade-away baseline three-pointer
with two seconds left to give the Bulldogs the win. Ezeokoli leads
the team with 15.8 ppg while senior guards Chris Burns
(Merrimack, NH) and Nate Sudlow (Brooklyn,
NY) are next at 13.2 ppg and 10.7 ppg respectively.
Sudlow has 17 steals on the season including a career-best seven in
the win over Assumption last Wednesday. The Bulldogs travel
to rival Bentley College on Saturday. Bentley is undefeated
on the season at 7-0 and bring a No. 8 national ranking into the
game. Bryant swept both regular season meetings with the
Falcons last year, including an 88-78 double-overtime thriller at
the Chace Athletic Center in February. Bentley was ranked No.
20 nationally at the time.
NEXT UP FOR BRYANT
The Bulldogs will return home this Saturday, Dec. 9 to
host the Penmen of Southern N.H. at 3:30 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 9 - SOUTHERN N.H., 7:30 p.m.
Wed. Dec. 13 - at Stonehill, 7:30 p.m.
Fri. - Dec. 29 - LE MOYNE, 5 p.m.
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.
LAST YEAR VS. BENTLEY COLLEGE
The Bulldogs and Falcons met twice last year with Bryant winning both meetings, 77-63 in Waltham, Mass. and 88-78 in double overtime at the Chace Athletic Center. In the first meeting at Bentley, Bryant shot 53.3 percent and got 16 points from Nick Pontes and 11 from Jon Ezeokoli. Bentley shot 43.1 percent and got 14 points off the bench from Nate Fritsch. In the second meeting, Fritsch had moved to the starting lineup and finished with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in the overtime loss to the Bulldogs. Bryant's Jerrann Wright had 21 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the floor as Bryant forced Bentley into 20 turnovers in the game. Chris Burns and Ezeokoli each had 11 for Bryant.
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' NUMBERS
Senior guard Chris Burns of Merrimack, N.H. enters Wednesday's game with 946 career points, needing 54 to reach 1,000 for his career. Burns is third in school history with 186 career three-point field goals. He has played in 97 career games - starting in 37.
FILLING THE STAT SHEET
One game after picking up a career-high seven steals vs. Assumption (Nov. 29), senior guard Nate Sudlow (Brooklyn, NY) filled out the stat sheet nicely vs. UMass Lowell. Sudlow finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, but also added 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in 36 minutes. Not to mention, Sudlow made all four of his free throws in the game and finished the week going 11 for 12 from the line.
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 sound 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 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 97-64 while at Bryant and 206-202 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 97 (2001-pre., 97-64)
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.
BULLDOG NOTABLES ....
- Dan Hammond (Brunswick, Maine) needs four steals 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 180 career steals, trailing Jerome Grier '96 record of 184.
- Bryant has been out-rebounded in all six games this season. The only game Bryant out-rebounded an opponent this year was at Syracuse. Not against Le Moyne, but against Syracuse University in an exhibition game Nov. 1.
- Bryant committed only 2 turnovers in the second half vs. Assumption
