January 26, 2008

BRYANT MEN DEFEAT UMASS LOWELL 56-50 SATURDAY

LOWELL, MA - Cecil Gresham scored 17 points and Jon Ezeokoli added 16 to lead the Bryant University men's basketball team to a 56-50 win over UMass Lowell Saturday afternoon at Costello Gym. The win improves the Bulldogs' record to 11-8 overall and 7-7 in the Northeast-10. 

The Bulldogs shot 45 percent from the floor in the first half and drained seven three-pointers to take a 34-22 lead into the locker room at the break. Rebounding played a strong factor as Bryant out-rebounded the River Hawks 21 to 14 including eight on the offensive glass in the first half.

The River Hawks pulled to within 2 on an Ali Kanaan dunk but the Bulldogs responded with a big three from Gresham to send the Bulldogs to the 12-point halftime advantage.  Gresham would score 13 points in the first half alone on 5 of 9 shooting from the floor.  

In the second half, the Bulldogs cooled a bit offensively making just 7 of 23 from the floor.  But in the end, it was strong free throw shooting once again that helped key the victory. The Bulldogs made all eight free throw attempts and finished making 9 of 12 from the charity stripe in the game.

Sophomore Chris Birrell had 10 points and added eight rebounds while Jerrann Wright had eight points and seven boards. Kanaan paced the River Hawks (7-10, 5-8 NE-10) with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Bryant will host Saint Anselm this Wednesday at 7:30 pm.