• Wed, 02/08 | Men's Basketball at Sacred Heart L, 79-77 (Final) BX | RC
  • Sat, 02/04 | Men's Basketball at St. Francis (NY) L, 80-67 (Final) BX | RC
  • Thu, 02/02 | Men's Basketball at Long Island L, 75-70 (Final) BX | RC
  • Sat, 01/28 | Men's Basketball vs. Monmouth L, 78-68 (Final) BX | RC
  • Thu, 01/26 | Men's Basketball vs. Fairleigh Dickinson L, 66-63 (Final) BX | RC
  • Mon, 01/23 | Men's Basketball vs. Brown L, 67-60 (Final) BX | RC
  • Sat, 01/21 | Men's Basketball vs. Quinnipiac L, 78-71 (Final - OT) PR | BX | RC | LS | V | A | T
  • Thu, 01/19 | Men's Basketball at Central Connecticut L, 69-51 (Final) BX | RC
  • Sat, 01/14 | Men's Basketball at Mount St. Mary's L, 64-60 (Final) BX | RC
  • Thu, 01/12 | Men's Basketball at Wagner L, 78-61 (Final) BX
 

February 6, 2009

MEN’S BASKETBALL FINISHES ROAD TRIP AT QUINNIPIAC SATURDAY AFTERNOON IN SEARCH OF THIRD-STRAIGHT WIN

February 6, 2009

MEN'S BASKETBALL FINISHES ROAD TRIP AT QUINNIPIAC SATURDAY AFTERNOON IN SEARCH OF THIRD-STRAIGHT WIN

Game Notes

UPDATE
The Bryant University men's basketball team plays their final game of a four-game road trip Saturday afternoon and are looking for their third-straight win as they battle the Bobcats of Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. Tipoff is at 2 p.m. This is the 53rd all-time meeting between the two programs, with Quinnipiac holding a 37-15 advantage. The Bulldogs won the last meeting earlier this season, beating the Bobcats, 59-50, in the consolation game of the Columbia Tournament on November 22nd. Last time out, Bryant won its first set of back-to-back Division I contests with a, 83-71, road victory over Monmouth on Thursday night. It was the best offensive output of the year for the Bulldogs, beating their previous high of 69 points against Yale. Cecil Gresham scored a season-high 27 points, 20 in the second half on 8-of-10 shooting, to pace the offense, while Adam Parzych came off the bench to register a career-high 21, becoming the first pair of Bulldogs to score 20 points in the same game this season. Junior point guard Chris Birrell also notched a career-best, dishing out 10 assists as Bryant handed out 21 helpers on 28 field goals in the game, committing just eight turnovers. The win was the fourth in the last six games for the Bulldogs and improved their record to 5-4 against NEC opponents.

THE QUINNIPIAC BOBCATS
Quinnipiac University plays host to the Bulldogs Saturday afternoon for the 53rd meeting all-time between the two schools, as they also look for their third-straight win. The Bobcats come into the game in sixth place in the Northeast Conference, trailing Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart by just one game after beating the Pioneers, 68-66, on the road Thursday night. James Feldeine posted a double-double in the game, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds as five Bobcats registered double-figures on their way to the victory. Feldeine leads the team in scoring, averaging 17 points per game, ranking him second in the NEC, while Justin Rutty leads the conference in rebounding, pulling down 9.4 per game, and field goal percentage, shooting 61.7 percent from the floor. Rutty grabbed his 100th offensive rebound of the season in the win over Sacred Heart, making him the first Bobcat to record 100 offensive rebounds in one year and just the 12th Northeast Conference player all-time.

BULLDOGS BEAT MONMOUTH FOR SECOND-STRAIGHT WIN
Junior forward Cecil Gresham scored 20 second-half points on 8-for-10 shooting on his way to a season-high 27 to help Bryant roll past Monmouth, 83-71, on the road Thursday night. Bryant used an 11-2 run to end the first half, getting a pair of three's from Pete Lambert and Adam Parzych to take control of the game, leading 41-34 at the break. Parzych went on to score a career-high 21 points off the bench. Chris Birrell dished out 10 of the 21 Bulldog assists, as Bryant went on to their best offensive output of the season.

BRYANT AND QUINNIPIAC
This is the 53rd meeting between the Bulldogs and the Bobcats, with Quinnipiac owning a 37-15 advantage in the all-time series. Bryant won the last meeting between the squads, 59-50, in the consolation game of the Columbia Tournament for their first Division I win back on November 22nd. Cecil Gresham scored a game-high 21 points in the contest on his way to being named to the all-tournament team.

ON SECOND THOUGHT
The Bulldogs have proven to be a second half team this season, averaging 8.1 points more per game in the second half than the first half this season, scoring 31.9 points while shooting 40.7 percent from the floor and 33.6 percent from three point land. In the first half, Bryant has had its struggles, shooting at a clip of 35.8 percent from the floor and just 29 percent from behind the arc while averaging 23.8 points. The Bulldogs have gone into the locker room with double-digit deficits 16 times this season. Bryant has also minimized the rebounding differential in the second half, going from a -5 differential in the first half to -2.5 in the second half. Bryant has outscored or tied its opponents in eight of the last ten games in the second half, including beating Yale 50-24, Cornell 28-26, Sacred Heart 41-32, Fairleigh Dickinson 31-19, NJIT 36-30, Saint Francis 45-30 and Monmouth 42-37, while tying Brown 31-31. Las time out, Bryant shot 60 percent from the floor in the second half against the Hawks.

BRYANT VS THE NEC
The Bulldogs, who will become full members of the Northeast Conference in the 2012-2013 season, have posted a 5-4 record against NEC opponents, which would be good for fifth place in the conference based on their winning-percentage of .556 if Bryant qualified. The squad has grabbed wins against Quinnipiac (59-50), Fairleigh Dickinson (56-43), Long Island (57-55), Saint Francis, Pa. (65-60) and Monmouth (83-71), while falling to Mount St. Mary's (68-44), Sacred Heart (73-64), Long Island (76-61) and Robert Morris (72-47). The team has averaged 59.6 points per game, shooting 40.3 percent from the floor against the conference. Against non-NEC opponents, Bryant has allowed 69.9 points and 46.9 percent shooting while scoring 53.2 points on 37.1 percent from the floor.

LONG RANGE LAMBERT
Senior guard Pete Lambert (Cumberland, R.I. / Cumberland) has made 43 three's this season, good for second on the team while attempting a team-high 134 on the year, good for a 32.1 percent shooting percentage. Lambert has hit six three's on three different occasions this year, going 6-for-8 against Long Island, 6-for-10 against NJIT and 6-for-17 against Saint Francis, PA. The 17 three-point attempts were the second most ever by a Bulldog in a single game. The senior was 12-for-21 from downtown in a three-game stretch in January, scoring 16 against Yale, 18 versus LIU and 11 at Brown.  He has hit for 20+ points two times, putting in 21 against NJIT and 22 at Saint Francis while leading the team in scoring on four different occasions.

THREE'S COMPANY
The Bulldogs have attempted 499 three pointers this season, which would rank them second among teams in the Northeast Conference behind St. Francis (NY) who has put up 537. Bryant has shown itself to be an outside shooting team over the past six seasons, including taking 662 shots from behind the arc last season, with the all-time record coming back in the 2005-2006 season when the team rifled 756 shots from three point land. The Bulldogs have connected on 157 three's, shooting 31.5 percent overall on the season.

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.

HOME SWEET HOME
Bryant has shot 41.6 percent from the floor and 31.2 percent from behind the arc in its seven home games this season, winning three of those, compared to just a field goal percentage of 36.3 percent and 31 percent three-point shooting on the road. The Bulldogs have also done a better job on the boards at home, getting outrebounded 32.3 to 30.1 at home while the margin climbs to 38.1 to 28.5 on the road. Overall, the team has been outscored 70.9 to 54.3 on the road but just 61.9 to 58.1 at home.

RISING UP THE CHARTS
Cecil Gresham moved up to sixth all-time in career made three-pointers after hitting two at Long Island on Jan. 7, giving him 103 for his career, passing Cullen McCarthy. The junior is now just two away from fifth all time behind John Wallace who has 119. Pete Lambert moved up to seventh all-time after hitting six against Saint Francis (PA) on Jan. 31. He has 107 for his career.

ON PAR
Sophomore guard Adam Parzych (Lindenhurst, N.Y. / Lindenhurst) has recorded career-highs in points in three of his last four games, scoring 12 points against LIU followed by a 17 point performance against Saint Francis (PA) and finally registering 21 last time out at Monmouth. The Bulldogs are 3-2 when Parzych plays 20+ minutes, with the only two losses coming at Boston College and at Robert Morris. He is averaging 14.3 points per game over the last four while grabbing 2.8 rebounds.

PONTES AND CIRCUMSTANCE
Junior Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass. / New Bedford) had a seven game double-figure streak snapped against NJIT on Jan. 21 as he was limited to eight points. During his seven game double figure streak, the junior led the team 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 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 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson, the junior scored a game-high 18 points, 13 in the first half, while grabbing seven rebounds.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs return to the Chace Center on Thursday night for a match-up with the Seahawks of Wagner College (7 p.m.).

 

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