MEN’S BASKETBALL BACK IN ACTION AFTER 10-DAY LAYOFF; HIT THE ROAD TO PLAY RUTGERS SATURDAY AFTERNOON
December 18, 2008
BULLDOGS BACK IN ACTION AFTER 10-DAY LAYOFF; HIT THE ROAD TO PLAY RUTGERS SATURDAY AFTERNOON
UPDATE
The Bryant University men's basketball team travels to
Rutgers to take on the Scarlet Knights this afternoon. Tipoff is at
2 pm ET. Bryant is coming off a 80-61 loss at Boston College on
Wednesday, December 10th. The Bulldogs will be looking to snap a
five-game losing skid since earning a 59-50 win over Quinnipiac on
Nov. 22. The Bulldogs have had 10 days off in between games
since playing BC. The squad next heads to Maryland for two games
against University of Maryland and Mount St. Mary's. This is the
second of five straight road games for the Bulldogs before
returning home to play Yale on Jan. 2. Rutgers is coming off
back-to-back wins at Princeton and home versus Delaware State. The
squad is a perfect 3-0 on the road but has lost two games at the
RAC this season.
THE RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights will host the Bulldogs this
afternoon at the RAC at 2:00 p.m. in this first ever meeting
between the two programs. The Scarlet Knights are coming off a
,60-55, win over Delaware State at home on Sunday with help from a
season-high 17 points from senior Anthony Farmer. Rutgers overcame
an 11-point halftime deficit to pick up its fourth win in the last
five contests. The squad made a season-best 28 free throws on 35
attempts (80 percent) to help with the comeback. Leading scorer
Mike Rosario, who is averaging 15.9 points per game, made nine of
ten free throws down the stretch while scoring 15 points in the
contest. Rosario came into the week ranked second in the Big East
in free throw shooting. Gregory Echenique leads the team in
rebounding, averaging 9.5 per game.
BULLDOGS FALL TO BOSTON COLLEGE
A homecoming for Bulldog head coach Tim O'Shea was spoiled
by the Eagles, as they held off a ferocious Bryant comeback to take
home an, 80-61,win. Trailing by as many as 33 with 14:30 to go in
the game, the Bulldogs scored 29 of the next 36 points to cut the
lead down to 11 at 65-54 with just over six minutes left. Cecil
Gresham led the charge with 19 points (14 in the second half) on
five three's.
A SECOND HALF TEAM
The Bulldogs are averaging seven points more per game in
the second half than the first half this season, scoring 30.3
points while shooting 41.1 percent from the floor and 38.1 percent
from three point land. In the first half, Bryant has had its
struggles, shooting at a clip of 36.2 percent from the floor and
just 30 percent from behind the arc while averaging just 23.5
points. Bryant has also minimized the rebounding differential in
the second half, going from a -8 differential in the first half to
-3 in the second half.
ON THE REBOUND
Bryant struggled on the boards through the first six games
of the season, getting outrebounded by an average of 39.8 to 26.2
per game, surrendering 82 offensive rebounds in that stretch. It
has been a different story over the last two games, as the Bulldogs
outrebounded Army 26-24, and were only beaten on the boards by BC
38-32, including winning the battle on the glass 19-14 in the
second half while pulling down 9 offensive rebounds.
GRESHAM SHOWS HOT HAND
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. He has recorded double figures in
six of the team's first eight contests. 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 while
grabbing a season-best seven rebounds against Army, followed by a
14-point second half performance against Boston College, inclduing
5 three's and seven more rebounds to finish with a team-high 19
points on the night.
PARZYCH MAKES HIS MARK
Sophomore guard Adam Parzych (Lindenhurst, N.Y. /
Lindenhurst) scored six points and grabbed four rebounds while
playing in a career-high 25 minutes against BC on Dec. 10. Parzych
played hard-nosed defense while brining a more physical presence to
the lineup, earning himself his first career start against the
Scarlet Knights this afternoon.
WELCOME TO DIVISION I: ROUGH ROAD AHEAD
The Bulldogs jump right into a difficult Division I
schedule this season as they face three teams from the Big East
(UConn, Rutgers, Providence), two from the ACC (Boston College,
Maryland) and one from the Big Ten (Iowa). Bryant will also play
defending Ivy league Champion, Cornell, as well as each team from
the Northeast Conference. So far, the Bulldogs have fallen to UConn
(88-58), Iowa (61-36) and BC (80-61).The team will spend a lot of
time on the road, playing 18 away games compared to 11 at home.
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.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will take a short trip to nearby Providence
to battle the Friars at the Dunkin' Donuts Center on Monday night
(7 pm).
BRYANT TO JOIN NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
Last 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. 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.
BRYANT BASKETBALL ON WOON AND WJMF RADIO
Bryant University basketball games can be heard live on
WOON-AM 1240, the home of Bryant Sports, throughout the basketball
season. All home games and select road games will be carried
live with Jon Wallach calling the action. Bryant's student radio
station, WJMF will also broadcast home games this year. All
home games will also be made available for viewing online courtesy
of Penn Atlantic.
