March 2, 2008
MEN'S BASKETBALL TRAVELS TO SAINT ROSE MONDAY
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| Bryant has advanced to the NE-10 Semifinals three times in the last four seasons under coach Max Good. Bryant defeated AIC last year in the quartefinals, UMass Lowell in 2006, and Le Moyne in 2004. |
UPDATE
The seventh-seeded Bryant University men's basketball team travels
to Albany, NY Monday night to face second-seed Saint Rose in a
Northeast-10 Conference quarterfinal round game at Nolan Gym.
The Bulldogs knocked off tenth-seed Southern New Hampshire 65-57
Saturday afternoon in Smithfield, R.I. behind 17 points from Chris
Birrell and Jon Ezeokoli. The Bulldogs led 38-32 at the half
and had to rally back from a five-point deficit in the second half
to advance. This will be the second meeting this season
between the Bulldogs and Golden Knights. Saint Rose handed
Bryant an 85-72 loss at Nolan Gym on Jan. 5 despite 26 points from
Bulldog sophomore Cecil Gresham. Bryant and Saint Rose last
met in the postseason last season with Bryant earning a 65-62 win
in the second round of the NCAA Northeast Regionals in Waltham,
MA. Jerrann Wright had 11 rebounds in the game. The winner of
Monday's game will advance to the Northeast-10 Conference
tournament semifinals Thursday, facing the winner of Monday's
quarterfinal round game between UMass Lowell and Assumption.
LOOKING AT THE BULLDOGS
Bryant snapped a two game losing skid with Saturday's
first round win. The Bulldogs had a four-game win streak snapped
with road losses at Stonehill (63-54) on Feb. 19 and Merrimack
(79-60) in the regular season finale. Bryant, 6-7 on the road
this season, is led by guard Jon Ezeokoli who is scoring 14.3 ppg
and averaging 5.1 rebounds per game. The senior has made 48 three's
this season and is shooting 78.5 percent from the free throw line.
Sophomore Cecil Gresham is enjoying a fine season as the second
year player is second on the team with 12.4 ppg and 51 made
three's. First-year sophomore Chris Birrell (11.5, 3.1 rpg)
has 113 assists and 59 steals.
LAST GAME VS. SAINT ROSE - Jan. 5
Despite a career-high 26 points from sophomore forward Cecil
Gresham, the Bryant University men's basketball team saw its
four-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the College of
Saint Rose, 85-72. The Bulldogs went up 5-0 to start the
game, taking a 10-7 lead over the Golden Knights at the
14-minute mark. The two teams kept it close for the majority of the
first frame until Saint Rose took a 27-21 advantage with 5:14
showing on the clock. Gresham responded with a big 3-pointer, his
third of four in the first half, that brought the score back to a
27-24 Saint Rose lead. Jon Ezeokoli tied the game up at
32-32 with the first of two free throws with 1:44 before the break
and made good on the back end to for the lead. With 17 final
seconds ticking down on the first half clock, Saint Rose's Steve
D'Agostino drained a big three to go up, 39-35, but the trey
wouldn't go unanswered. With just six seconds showing, Gresham
drained a trey for a fourth time, giving him 17 first-half points
and just a 39-38 deficit to take into the locker room. Bryant
out rebounded the Golden Knights in the first half, 21-17, while
both teams got big points from the free throw line, with the
Bulldogs going 16-for-21 and Saint Rose making good on 14-of-19.
A tight second half quickly got away from the Bulldogs, as D'Agostino drove the lead up to 12 points when Shanty Robinson stole the ball from Bryant after an easy D'Agostino layup before giving the ball back to D'Agostino for a quick 3-pointer to make Saint Rose's lead 69-57 with 6:32 left to play. An early technical foul called on Chris Birrell just 1:49 into the contest proved costly, as the Bulldogs' second-leading scorer fouled out of the game with 4:36 still to play. And with two successful free throws off the foul, the Golden Knights increased their lead to 75-61. Gresham's 26 points were a game high on the day, while Jerrann Wright led Bryant on the glass with 10 boards and chipped in 14 points. D'Agonstino led the Golden Knights with 21 points.
LOOKING AT SAINT ROSE
The Golden Knights, the second seed of the conference tournament
and No. 3 team in the region, have won three straight and nine of
their last 10 heading into Monday's game. The last loss was a 85-74
defeat at Saint Anselm Feb. 13. Steve Dagostino leads the way
with 18.1 ppg and 167 assists while Shanty Robinson is next with
15.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg.
MAX NEARING 500TH CAREER COLLEGIATE GAME COACHED
Seventh-year coach Max Good heads into Monday's game vs.
Saint Rose with 131 coaching victories at Bryant, good for second
all-time. Tom Foliard is the all-time winningest coach with
174 victories from 1968 to 1978. Monday's game will be his
216th coaching at Bryant and his 463rd game coached - not including
his time at Maine Central Institute prep - a career that has
seen him head up programs at Eastern Kentucky and UNLV along with
Bryant.
GET TO THE LINE
The Bulldogs have attempted 86 free throws in the last four games
(22 ave. attempts) and have made good on 62 of those (72.1
percent). Bryant made 24 of 32 free throws in Saturday's win
over Southern NH.
REBOUNDING KEY
To be successful Monday, the Bulldogs will have to rebound better.
Bryant has been out-rebounded in each of its last four games and
six of its last seven. In Saturday's first round game,
Southern NH out-rebounded the Bulldogs 33 to 28.
BULLDOGS REMAIN RANKED NO. 5 IN REGION
The Bulldogs enter the week ranked No. 5 in the NCAA
Northeast Region according to the most recent poll released last
week. A total of eight teams from each of the eight
regions across the country will be selected to participate for the
NCAA Division II tournament. The conference tournament
champions from the three Northeast Regional conferences: NE-10,
East Coast Conference (ECC), and Central Atlantic College
Conference (CACC) will receive an automatic bid with the remaining
five spots selected as at-large participants for the 2008 Northeast
Regional. Bryant advanced to the regional final last year before
falling to Bentley in the title game.
1. Bentley (NE-10)
2. Assumption (NE-10)
3. Saint Rose (NE-10)
4. CW Post (ECC)
5. BRYANT (NE-10)
6. Philadelphia (CACC)
7. Holy Family (CACC)
8. Merrimack (NE-10)
9. Stonehill (NE-10)
10. Le Moyne (NE-10)
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.
NORTHEAST-10 TOURNEY AT A GLANCE
Saturday, March 1
Game 1 #5 Stonehill def. #12 AIC, 69-63
Game 2 #11 UMass Lowell def. #6 Merrimack, 70-69
Game 3 #7 Bryant def. #10 Southern NH, 65-57
Game 4 #8 Le Moyne def. #9 Saint Anselm, 75-70
Monday, March 3
Game 5 Stonehill at #4 seed Pace, 7 pm
Game 6 UMass Lowell at #3 seed Assumption, 7 pm
Game 7 Bryant at #2 seed Saint Rose, 7 pm
Game 8 Le Moyne at #1 seed Bentley, 7 pm
Thursday, March 6
Game 9 Stonehill/Pace winner vs. Le Moyne/ Bentley winner, 7
pm
Game 10 Lowell / Assumption winner vs. Bryant / St. Rose
winner, 7 pm
Saturday, March 8
Championship, 1 pm
