February 1, 2008

BRYANT MEN'S BASKETBALL VISITS TOP-RANKED BENTLEY SATURDAY
Tipoff 3:30 p.m. / Dana Center / Waltham, MA

WATCH GAME LIVE /  GAME NOTES (PDF) 

The Bryant men's basketball team goes for its fourth consecutive win Saturday when the Bulldogs head to Waltham, MA to face the top-ranked Bentley Falcons (19-0, 14-0 NE-10) in a Northeast-10 Conference matchup. The game can be seen live on CSTV.com starting at 3:30 p.m. with the opening tip from Bentley's Dana Center.  This will be the second meeting of the year between the two conference rivals.  Bentley won the first meeting convincingly, 68-45, back on Dec. 4 in Smithfield, R.I.  The 45 points were a season low for Bryant and equalled the school record for lowest total points in a game.  Bentley has won five-straight including all four matchups last year (2 regular season, 1 NE-10 playoffs, 1 NCAA regional final).  Bryant's last win came in double overtime back in February of 2006.

BULLDOG UPDATE
Bryant has put together a nice little run as of late, winning three straight including an 86-73 win over Saint Anselm at home on Wednesday night.  Sophomore Cecil Gresham (right) netted a career-high 36 points in the game.  The native of Bloomfield, CT had 22 in the first half alone and finished with 8 made three-pointers, just one shy of the school record of 9 set by teammate Peter Lambert Jan. 2 against Merrimack.  Bryant led 48-24 at the half but struggled in the second half as the Hawks out-scored the Bulldogs 49 to 38 and cutting the Bryant lead down to nine at one point before falling in the end.  Chris Birrell (Scituate, RI) had 19 points and seven assists plus five steals while Jerrann Wright (Cincinnati, OH) had seven points and 10 rebounds. 

MAKING THEM COUNT
Bryant is 47-59 (80 percent) from the free throw line over the last four games.  The Bulldogs made 9 of 12 free throws in last Saturday's win at UMass Lowell.  Bryant made 10 of 13 from the stripe against Southern NH and 11 of 12 at Le Moyne. Against St. Anselm, the Bulldogs made 17 of 22 attempts. 

CLEANING THE GLASS
Bryant is currently third in the conference in offensive rebounding (37.7) and second in the league in rebounding defense (33.0).  The Bulldogs have only been out-rebounded three times this year (UMass Lowell, Adelphi, Southern NH) losing just once in those games (SNHU). No surprise, as a result the Bulldogs lead the league with a +4.7 rebounding margin on the season.

MORE WINS FOR MAX
Seventh-year coach Max Good heads into Wednesday's game with Saint Anselm with 126 coaching victories at Bryant. He needs on more win to pass Leon Drury's win total of 126 spanning 11 seasons.  Tom Foliard is the all-time winningest coach with 174 victories from 1968 to 1978.

CECIL HITS HIS STRIDE
Sophomore Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield,CT) is averaging 18.8 points per game in the last nine games. The forward is second on the team in scoring after a strong 17-point effort at UMass Lowell last Saturday.  Gresham has scored in double figures in eight of his last nine games and 11 times in all this season. He poured in a career-best 36 points in the team's win over Saint Anselm Wednesday, going 13 for 17 from the floor and making 8 of 12 three-point attempts - one shy of the school record for three's made in a game of 9 held by Peter Lambert.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Bentley brings a 45-game win streak into Saturday's game with Bryant.  The Falcons are coming off a 76-61 win over Merrimack in North Andover, MA on Wednesday evening.  Lew Finnegan leads four players averaging double figures with 14.8 ppg and 5.7 rebounds while Nate Fritsch is next at 13.9 ppg.  Jason Westrol, this week's NE-10 Player of the Week is close behind with 13.8 ppg.  Westrol had 23 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Pace last week and followed with 19 against Southern NH.

LAST MEETING WITH BENTLEY
The Falcons, ranked No. 1 at the time, rolled to a 68-45 win over the Bulldogs at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, RI back on Dec. 4.  Bentley used a balanced offensive attack and stifling defense to cruise to the win.  Jason Westrol had 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting while Lew Finnegan made 5 of 7 from the floor to finish with 14 points and Nate Fritsch came off the bench to add 14 points.  Bentley shot 54 percent from the floor and held Bryant to just 15 field goals and 27 percent shooting.  Jon Ezeokoli had 12 points while Pete Lambert came off the bench to add 11 for Bryant.  Bryant's starting lineup combined to go 9 for 35 (26 percent) from the floor in the game.

IT'S WINNING TIME
Jon Ezeokoli and Chris Birrell have been the key go-to guys down the stretch. Birrell is averaging 2.5 ppg and is shooting 85 percent (22-26) from the free throw line in the final five minutes of games this season.  Ezeokoli is averaging 2.2 ppg and shooting 81 percent from the line with the game on the line.

BRYANT TO JOIN NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
In October, Bryant officially accepted an invitation to join the Division I Northeast Conference.  The school will begin a four-year transition to Division I and become a full member of the Northeast Conference in the fall of 2012.  This will be Bryant's final season as a member of the Division II ranks and will begin a Division I schedule in 2008-09.  Bryant will not be eligible for conference or NCAA postseason play during the four-year transition period.  The Northeast Conference includes members:  Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, Long Island, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary's, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis NY, St. Francis PA, and Wagner. 

BULLDOGS ON TV
In addition to the Bulldogs appearing on NE10.tv each night, the Feb. 2 game at Bentley will be broadcast live online on CSTV.com.  For the second consecutive year, Bryant will also play live to the local community with an appearance on Cox Sports TV-3 February 16 when the Bulldogs host Southern Connecticut. 

HALL OF FAME /ALUMNI GAME
The American International College game on Saturday, February 9th will be Basketball Alumni Day.  There will be an alumni game at 11 a.m. prior to the start of the women's game.  The day is also Hall of Fame Weekend as Bryant will induct six new members into its Hall of Fame later in the evening.