December 7, 2008

BRYANT MEN’S BASKETBALL TO HOST ARMY MONDAY NIGHT AT 7 PM; Bulldogs To Unveil NCAA / Conference Banners in Gym at Halftime

December 7, 2008

BRYANT MEN'S BASKETBALL TO HOST ARMY MONDAY NIGHT AT 7 PM

Bulldogs To Unveil NCAA / Conference Banners in Gym at Halftime

UPDATE
The Bryant University men's basketball team returns home Monday evening to host the Army Black Knights at the Chace Athletic Center. Tipoff is at 7 pm ET. Bryant is coming off a 61-36 loss at Iowa Friday night. The Bulldogs will be looking to snap a three-game losing skid since earning a 59-50 win over Quinnipiac on Nov. 22. This will be only the second home game of the season for Bryant and the final of 2008. The Bulldogs host Yale on Jan. 2. Army is looking to snap a six-game skid. The Black Knights opened the year with a 63-48 win over Dartmouth. On Monday, Army fell to Presbyterian at home 59-43. At halftime, Bryant will unveil new banners in the Chace Center highlighting conference and NCAA appearances by all 22 varsity sports programs.

THE ARMY BLACK KNIGHTS
The Army pays a visit the Chace Athletic Center tonight for a 7 p.m. game with the Bulldogs. This will be the second meeting all-time between the two programs with Army winning 76-61 at West Point during the 1978-79 season. The Black Knights are coming off a 59-43 loss to Presbyterian at home back on Dec. 1. Jesse Steele and Nathan Hedgecock each had seven points in the game. Cleveland Richard leads the way with 11 points per game entering tonight's game. He had a career-high 16 points at Harvard. Head coach Jim Crews is in his seventh season at Army where he is 50-126) and his 24th season overall as head coach. A 1976 graduate of Indiana where he played from 1972-76, Crews was the head coach at Evansville from 1986-2002 leading the Purple Aces to four NCAA tournament appearances and two NIT berths.

BULLDOGS COME UP SHORT AT IOWA
In the first-ever meeting against a Big 10 school, the Bulldogs fell to the Hawkeyes 61-36 at Caver Hawkeye Arena. Andrew Lyell (Portsmouth, RI) and Barry Latham (Taunton, MA) each had eight points to pace the Bulldogs as Bryant was held to just 30 percent shooting from the floor. Iowa made 12 of 28 three-point field goals in the game.

SIMMONS NAMED PATRIOT LEAGUE ROOKIE OF WEEK
Freshman Julian Simmons was named the Patriot League Rookie of the week on Dec. 1 after averaging 10 ppg and 2 rebounds per game in games against Brown and Harvard. The Katy, Texas native had a career-high 18 points including four 3-point field goals against Brown.

ON THE REBOUND
The Bulldogs have been outrebounded in each of their first six contests including surrendering 82 offensive rebounds. In its five losses, Bryant has surrendered an average of 13.2 offensive rebounds per game and 14.4 second-chance points while having a -13.6 rebounding margin.

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 four of the team's first six contests. The junior grabbed All-Tournament accolades at the Columbia Classic for his 23 points per game effort. But, Albany and Iowa were able to slow Gresham down over the last two contests, going 0-for-7 from behind the arc and 5-for-22 from the field while averaging just six points.

LYELL CRACKS STARTING LINEUP
Senior forward Andrew Lyell (Portsmouth, R.I. / Portsmouth) earned a spot in the starting lineup in the Bulldogs' win over Quinnipiac, scoring eight points including a three to ice the game with 30 seconds left. The senior was solid against UConn picking up five points, five rebounds and five assists. Since becoming a starter, he has averaged 6.3 points and 5 rebounds per game while playing in 37.5 minutes over the last four contests.

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, and Iowa, 61-26.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.

BENCH SUPPORT
The Bulldogs bench has been outscored by an average of 21.3 to 10.6 over the first six games of the season including 22-8 against Iowa.

FIRING FROM LONG RANGE
The Bulldogs came into the contest with Iowa tied for 17th in the country in three-point field goals made per game with 9.8. Bryant has been slowed downover the last two gamesgoing 3-for-21 from downtown against Albany and 5-for-15 at Iowa. The team is shooting 34.1 percent form behind the arc this season and has not been gun shy, as they average putting up 22 three-pointers per game

UP NEXT
Bryant goes on the road to play Boston College at Conte Forum on Wednesday night (7 p.m.).

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.