January 16, 2009
MEN'S BASKETBALL WRAPS-UP HOME-STAND SATURDAY AFTERNOON AGAINST FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
UPDATE
The Bryant University men's basketball team plays wraps-up
a three-game home-stand Saturday afternoon looking to snap a
four-game losing skid as they take-on future NEC rival Fairleigh
Dickinson at the Chace Center. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. In their last
outing, Bryant lost to Sacred Heart, 73-64, at the Chace Center
Wednesday night. The Bulldogs put on another furious second half
comeback, coming as close as six after trailing by 18 points at
halftime, using a 14-2 run to start the second frame to climb back
into the contest. Junior forward Cecil Gresham scored a team-high
17 points while point guard Chris Birrell had a season-high 15
points to go along with four assists, three steals and three
rebounds. Bryant shot 46.2 percent from the floor in the second
half and forced nine second half turnovers to spark the comeback,
but Sacred Heart came up with big shots down the stretch to hold of
the Bulldogs, knocking down nine three's in the game with five
coming in the second half. Nick Pontes hit for 11 points,
registering his sixth-straight double-figure game, while Gresham
continues to lead the team in scoring, averaging 13.6 per game.
THE FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON KNIGHTS
Fairleigh Dickinson steps out of NEC league
play Saturday afternoon when the Knights take on the Bulldogs
at the Chace Athletic Center. FDU comes into today's game looking
to snap a three game losing skid. After knocking off Quinnipiac at
home 72-68 on Jan. 3, the Knights fell to Wagner and Mount St.
Mary's and most recently fell to Central Connecticut, 91-78
in Hackensack, New Jersey last Saturday. The other win this season
came on the road at Monmouth, with the Knight's pulling out a 71-67
win behind Sean Baptiste's 23 points. Baptiste has been the top
offensive scorer this season averaging 16.5 ppg average into
today's game. Baptiste, the NEC Player of the Week on Jan. 5, had
25 points against Saint Peter's and followed with 31 points against
Seton Hall. In the win over Quinnipiac, Baptiste erupted for a
career-high 37 points on 12 of 18 shooting from the floor. Head
Coach Tom Green is in his 26th season at FDU, having led the
Knights to four NCAA tournaments, most recently in 2005. He is the
NEC's all-time winningest coach with 402 career victories.
BULLDOGS COME UP SHORT AGAINST SACRED HEART
The Bulldogs climbed their way back to within six in the
second half after trailing by 18 at the halftime, but solid late
free-throw shooting and big shots from the outside helped Sacred
Heart hold off a pesky Bryant squad, 73-64, Wednesday night at the
Chace Center. The Pioneers went on two big first half runs of 19-2
and 12-2 to take a 41-23 lead into halftime as preseason all-NEC
selection Joey Henley paced the Pioneers with 13 points. Solid
point guard play from Chris Birrell (15 points, four assists, three
steals and three rebounds) helped lead Bryant back into the game,
going on a 14-2 to start the second half, but the the Pioneers shot
50 percent from the outside in the second frame to grab the
victory.
BRYANT AND FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
This is first meeting all-time between the Bulldogs and
Knights.
ON SECOND THOUGHT
The Bulldogs are averaging 8.4 points more per game in the
second half than the first half this season, scoring 31.3 points
while shooting 40.3 percent from the floor and 33.5 percent from
three point land. In the first half, Bryant has had its struggles,
shooting at a clip of 34.5 percent from the floor and just 28.7
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 -3.8 in the
second half. Bryant outscored Yale 50-24 in the second half,
shooting 56 percent from the floor. Against Long Island, the
Bulldogs shot a lights-out 63.6 from three in the second half
(7-11). Bryant has outscored its opponents in each of the last two
games in the second half, beating Cornell 28-26 and Sacred Heart
41-32.
ON THE LINE
Bryant has done a better job getting to the free-throw
stripe in the second half, shooting 163 free-throws in the second
half compared to just 91 in the first half. Their opponents have
been called for 102 first half fouls, while that number increases
to 156 in the second frame. Overall, the Bulldogs have been
whistled for 55 more personal fouls than their opponents over the
first 17 games, and have attempted 79 fewer free-throws. Bryant has
shot only 63 percent from the charity stripe this season, but did
hit 17 of a season-high 24 attempts against Sacred Heart.
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 41.4 percent from the floor and 33 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 33.4 to 27.4 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 six
games, leading the team in that stretch with 13.2 points per game
and eight 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, a team-high 13
against Cornell and 11 against Sacred Heart.
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 go back on the road as they travel to play
another Division I transitional opponent in NJIT on Wednesday night
(7 p.m.).
