January 9, 2008
BULLDOGS BATTLE BROWN IN INTRASTATE MATCH-UP SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT THE PIZZITOLA CENTER
UPDATE
The Bulldogs are looking for their first road victory as
they travel to take on in-state rival Brown University Saturday
afternoon in Providence. Tipoff is at 4 p.m. In their last outing,
Bryant fell to future NEC rival Long Island, 76-61, in Brooklyn on
Wednesday night. The Bulldogs held the lead for 15 minutes of the
first half, but allowed a 13-0 run spanning from the last two
minutes of the first half through the first two minutes of the
second half, allowing the first place Blackbirds to take control.
Pete Lambert helped keep the Bulldogs within striking distance,
scoring a team-high 18 points on six-of-eight shooting from
three-point land. Junior forward Nick Pontes continued to show his
inside scoring ability, finishing with ten points and registering
double-figures for the third straight game. Cecil Gresham continues
to lead the Bulldogs in scoring, averaging 13.6 points per game
while hitting 32 three-pointers. The junior hit a three in the
first half against LIU, moving him up to sixth in career three's
made at Bryant.
THE BROWN BEARS
Brown University hosts the Bulldogs Saturday afternoon for
seventh all-time meeting between the two programs. The Bears are
coming off back-to-back road losses at American, 68-53, and at
Virginia, 74-60. Brown has been tough to beat at the Pizzitola
Center this season, posting a 4-1 record thus far, with the lone
loss coming against Northwestern in their home opener. The Bears
have three players averaging double-figures, with Matt Mullery
leading the way with 15.1 points per game, followed by Peter
Sullivan with 14.8 and Adrian Williams with 13.7. Chris Skrelja
leads the Bears in rebounding, pulling down 6.5 per game.
BULLDOGS FALL TO LONG ISLAND
A 13-0 run spanning from the two minutes mark of the first
half to the 18 minutes mark of the second half burned the Bulldogs
as they fell to Long Island on Wednesday night. Kyle Johnson scored
seven straight for the Blackbirds to start the second half to
extend a six point halftime lead to 13. Bryant controlled the game
for the majority of the first half, leading for a 15 minute span
thanks to inside scoring
BRYANT and BROWN
This is the seventh all-time meeting between the Bulldogs
and Bears with Brown taking each of the first six. The last meeting
was in the 1991-92 season, with the Bears winning by a final tally
of 86-80.
A SECOND HALF TEAM
The Bulldogs are averaging 7.8 points more per game in the
second half than the first half this season, scoring 30.9 points
while shooting 39.5 percent from the floor and 36.4 percent from
three point land. In the first half, Bryant has had its struggles,
shooting at a clip of 35.1 percent from the floor and just 29.2
percent from behind the arc while averaging 23.1 points. Bryant has
also minimized the rebounding differential in the second half,
going from a -7.3 differential in the first half to -3.3 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).
LONG RANGE MISSILE
Guard Pete Lambert (Cumberland, R.I. / Cumberland) has
been firing on all cylinders in the last two games, going 9-for-15
from behind the arc and averaging 17 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, connecting on five second half three's to lead
the team with 18 points.
HOME SWEET HOME
Bryant has shot 44 percent from the floor and 40 percent
from behind the arc in its three home games this season, compared
to just a 33.8 field goal percentage and 29 percent three-point
shooting on the road. The Bulldogs have also done a better job on
the boards at home, getting outrebounded 33.8 to 28.3 at home while
the margin climbs to 39.6 to 27.7 on the road.
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.
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 take on another Ivy League
foe, as they play host to defending league champions Cornell Monday
night at 7 p.m.
