January 13, 2009
BRYANT MEN'S BASKETBALL LOOKS TO BOUNCE BACK AGAINST SACRED HEART WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE CHACE CENTER
UPDATE
The Bryant University men's basketball team plays their
second of a three-game home-stand Wednesday night as they face-off
against future NEC rival Sacred Heart at the Chace Center. Tipoff
is at 7 p.m. In their last outing, Bryant fell to defending Ivy
League Champion Cornell, 69-46, Monday night. Junior forward Nick
Pontes registered his fifth-straight game in double-figures,
scoring a team-high 13 points. The Bulldogs fell behind early after
tying the score at nine, as the Big Red went on an 11-0 and scored
34 of the final 43 points of the half to take a 25-point lead into
halftime. Cornell shot the lights out in first half, hitting on
9-of-14 from downtown. The Bulldogs would go on to outscored the
Big Red, 28-26, in the second half, shooting 42.9 percent from the
field while holding Cornell to 39.1 percent. Leading scorer Cecil
Gresham, averaging 13.4 ppg, registered 11 points and scored in
double-figures for his second-straight game. The junior hit a three
in the first half against LIU, moving him up to sixth in career
three's made at Bryant.
THE SACRED HEART PIONEERS
The Pioneers of Sacred Heart visit the Chace Center
Wednesday night to play the Bulldogs for the 17th meeting between
the two programs. Sacred Heart comes into this game having lost
four of their last five games, including a, 72-70, overtime loss to
Robert Morris last time out. Joey Henley had 23 points on 9-for-18
shooting and seven rebounds. Corey Hassan added 17 points and six
rebounds as the Pioneers made 9 three-point field goals in the
game. Sacred Heart has played several common opponents, falling to
Providence (111-87), Albany (60-59), Boston College (89-76), and
Long Island (74-67) and earned wins over Yale (63-57) and Columbia
(84-79 in overtime). Picked to finish second in the NEC this
season, the Pioneers are led by Henley, a preseason all-conference
selection, averaging 13.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Forward
Ryon Howard and Chauncey Hardy are also averaging double-figures
with 11.9 and 10.6 points per game respectively. The Pioneers came
just one game away from the NCAA tournament last season, falling to
Mount St. Mary's in the NEC championship.
DEFENDING IVY LEAGUE CHAMPS KNOCK-OFF BULLDOGS
Cornell shot a blistering 60 percent from the floor in the
first half while knocking down 9-of-14 from the outside to take
control of the contest in the first half, beating Bryant 69-46 at
the Chace Center. The Big Red had three players score in
double-figures, with Ryan Wittman leading the way with 18 points
and reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, Louis Dale, scoring 16.
Nick Pontes paced the Bryant offense with 13, as the Bulldogs
fought-hard in the second half, outscoring the Big Red, 28-26 in
the second half.
BRYANT AND SACRED HEART
This is 17th meeting all-time between the Bulldogs and Pioneers,
with the two squads each winning eight of the first 16. Sacred
Heart won the last meeting, beating Bryant, 83-67, back on February
16, 1998.
ON SECOND THOUGHT
The Bulldogs are averaging 7.8 points more per game in the
second half than the first half this season, scoring 30.7 points
while shooting 40 percent from the floor and 34.2 percent from
three point land. In the first half, Bryant has had its struggles,
shooting at a clip of 34.6 percent from the floor and just 28.3
percent from behind the arc while averaging 22.9 points. Bryant has
also minimized the rebounding differential in the second half,
going from a -7.1 differential in the first half to -4.3 in the
second half. Bryant outscored Yale 50-24 in the second half,
shooting 56 percent from the floor. Against Long Island, Bryant
shot a lights-out 63.6 from three in the second half (7-11), while
shooting 42.9 percent from the floor against Cornell, outscoring
the Big Red 28-26 in the second frame.
ON THE LINE
Bryant has done a better job getting to the free-throw
stripe in the second half, shooting 145 free-throws in the second
half compared to just 85 in the first half. Their opponents have
been called for 97 first half fouls, while that number increases to
143 in the second frame. Overall, the Bulldogs have been whistled
for 58 more personal fouls than their opponents over the first 16
games, and have attempted 85 fewer free-throws. Bryant has shot
only 62.2 percent from the charity stripe this season, but did go
10-14 against Cornell.
LONG RANGE MISSILE
Guard Pete Lambert (Cumberland, R.I. / Cumberland) had a
solid three-game stretch against Yale, LIU and Brown, going
12-for-21 from behind the arc and averaging 15 points per game. The
senior went 3-7 from downtown in a comeback win against Yale,
scoring a team-high 16 points. He followed that up with a 6-8
performance from the outside against LIU, connecting on five second
half three's to lead the team with 18 points before hitting three
more from downtown against Brown to score 11 points and score in
double-figures for the third straight game.
HOME SWEET HOME
Bryant has shot 42 percent from the floor and 34.7 percent
from behind the arc in its three home games this season, compared
to just a 35.1 field goal percentage and 30 percent three-point
shooting on the road. The Bulldogs have also done a better job on
the boards at home, getting outrebounded 34 to 26.8 at home while
the margin climbs to 40.4 to 27.6 on the road.
PONTES AND CIRCUMSTANCE
Junior Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass. / New Bedford) has
come alive, scoring in double-figures in each of the last five
games, leading the team in that stretch with 13.6 points per game
and 8.2 in the second half. After scoring 12 in a loss to Mount St.
Mary's, Pontes scored 15 second-half points against Yale to help
lead the Bulldogs to a comeback win. He has followed that with 10
against LIU, a game-high 18 against Brown and a team-high 13
against Cornell.
TAKING AIM AT THE RECORD BOOK
Cecil Gresham moved up to sixth all-time in career made
three-pointers after hitting two against Long Island, giving him
103 for his career, passing Cullen McCarthy.
BULLDOGS EARN FIRST DIVISION I WIN
With a 59-50 win over Quinnipiac in the consolation game
of the Columbia Classic, Bryant grabbed its first Division I men's
basketball win in the history of the program.
GRESHAM EXCELS IN SPOTLIGHT
Junior forward Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn. / MCI)
averaged 21.7 points per game over a three game span while going
15-25 from three-point range (60 percent) against Columbia,
Quinnipiac and UConn. The junior grabbed All-Tournament
accolades at the Columbia Classic for his 23 points per game
effort. After struggling against Albany and Iowa, Gresham scored a
game-high 14 points while knocking down four three's and grabbing a
season-best seven rebounds against Army, followed by a 14-point
second half performance against Boston College, including 5 three's
and seven more rebounds to finish with a team-high 19 points on the
night. After scoring a game-high 24 points against Providence,
Gresham showed his dominance against the New England Big Three
(UConn, BC, Providence) averaging 20.7 points and five rebounds per
game while hitting 13 three's. In six games against BCS schools
(Iowa, Rutgers, BC, Providence, Maryland and UConn), Gresham has
averaged 15.8 points and four boards per game.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will have finish up their three-game
home-stand with a Saturday afternoon contest against future NEC
rival Fairleigh Dickinson (1 p.m.).
