January 20, 2009
BRYANT HITS THE ROAD TO PLAY NJIT WEDNESDAY NIGHT IN NEWARK
UPDATE
The Bryant University men's basketball team takes to the
road after playing a three-game home-stand as they head to Newark,
New Jersey Wednesday night to battle the Highlanders of NJIT in the
third all-time meeting between the two programs. Tipoff is at 7
p.m. The Bulldogs will be looking for back-to-back victories for
the first time this year following a, 56-43, victory over Fairleigh
Dickinson on Saturday afternoon. After the two squads went
back-and-forth through the beginning of the second half, the
Bulldogs went on a 17-0 run over a seven minute span to put the
game away. Stifling Bryant defense held the Knights to 30.6 percent
shooting for the game with FDU not recording a field go for
nine-straight minutes in the second frame. Junior forward Nick
Pontes had 18 points, 13 in the first half, while grabbing seven
rebounds as he recorded his seventh-straight game in double
figures. Jerrann Wright also finished in double-digits, putting in
a season-high 14 points while pulling down eight rebounds. Leading
scorer Cecil Gresham, averaging 13.2 points per game, had a
team-high nine boards, helping Bryant to its best rebounding game
of the season, holding a 46-29 edge over the Knights.
THE NJIT HIGHTLANDERS
NJIT hosts the Bulldogs Wednesday night in search of their
first victory of the season in the third all-time meeting between
the two programs. The Highlanders have lost their first 18 games of
the season and 51-straight dating back to February 24th, 2007, with
their last win coming over Longwood, 78-74. NJIT is also in the
midst of a transition to the Division I level that started in the
2006-07 season, going 5-24 in their first year before a 0-29 year
in 2007-08. In their last outing, the Highlanders fell to Penn,
59-40, on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Isaiah Wilkerson led the way
with 15 points for NJIT while junior captain Gary Garris also
scored in double figures with 11. Wilkerson, who has played in nine
games this season while starting seven, has emerged as the team's
best offensive threat, averaging 12.1 points per game with Garris
right behind him at 11.3 ppg and a team-best 5.5 rebounds.
BULLDOGS GRAB THIRD WIN VS FDU
The Bulldogs pulled down a season-high 46 rebounds while
holding a plus-17 margin on the boards as they shutdown Fairleigh
Dickinson, 56-43, at the Chace Center on Saturday afternoon,
picking up their third win of the season. Bryant shot 40.4 percent
from the floor while holding the Knights to just 30.6 percent.
Junior forward Nick Pontes scored a game-high 18 points while
Jerrann Wright had a season-high 14 points, 12 in the second half,
to pace the Bulldogs to the win. Cecil Gresham had a team-high nine
boards while Wright and Andrew Lyell had eight apiece.
BRYANT AND NJIT
This is third meeting all-time between the Bulldogs and
Highlanders, with Bryant winning each of the first two back in the
2004-05 season, beating NJIT 85-47 in Newark and 78-39 in
Smithfield.
ON SECOND THOUGHT
The Bulldogs are averaging 8.2 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 percent from
three point land. In the first half, Bryant has had its struggles,
shooting at a clip of 34.9 percent from the floor and just 28.2
percent from behind the arc while averaging 23.1 points. Bryant has
also minimized the rebounding differential in the second half,
going from a -6.3 differential in the first half to -3 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
three games in the second half, beating Cornell 28-26, Sacred Heart
41-32 and Fairleigh Dickinson 31-19.
ON THE LINE
Bryant has done a better job getting to the free-throw
stripe in the second half, shooting 176 free-throws in the second
half compared to just 97 in the first half. Their opponents have
been called for 105 first half fouls, while that number increases
to 167 in the second frame. Overall, the Bulldogs have been
whistled for 60 more personal fouls than their opponents over the
first 18 games, and have attempted 80 fewer free-throws. Bryant has
shot only 62.3 percent from the charity stripe this season,
including going just 10-19 against Fairleigh Dickinson last time
out.
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 record
double figures for the third-straight game.
HOME SWEET HOME
Bryant has shot 41.2 percent from the floor and 31.1
percent from behind the arc in its six home games this season,
winning two of those, compared to just a 35.1 field goal percentage
and 29.7 percent three-point shooting on the road. The Bulldogs
have also done a better job on the boards at home, getting
outrebounded 32.7 to 30.5 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 seven
games, leading the team in that stretch with 13.9 points per game
and 4.3 rebounds. 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. In the team's latest victory over
Fairleigh Dickinson, the junior scored a game-high 18 points, 13 in
the first half, while grabbing seven rebounds.
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.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs return home to try to avenge a loss earlier
in the season as they battle Long Island on Saturday at 4 p.m.
