• 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 4, 2010

BULLDOG MEN KICK OFF NEC RIVALRY WEEK IN SEARCH OF WIN OVER BLUE DEVILS THURSDAY NIGHT (7:30 P.M.)

February 2, 2010

BULLDOGS CLOSE OUT HOMESTAND, LOOK FOR CRUCIAL WIN OVER CENTRAL CONNECTICUT THURSDAY NIGHT (7:30 P.M.)

Game Notes / Live Stats / Watch Live / Listen Live

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team wraps up its longest homestand of the season Thursday, hosting Northeast Conference opponent Central Connecticut State University in its third-straight contest at the Chace Athletic Center. This is the first of back-to-back meetings between the Bulldogs and the Blue Devils. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on WOON 1240-AM and on www.bryantbulldogs.tv.

THE SERIES
This is the 15th meeting between the Bulldogs and the Blue Devils, dating back to the 1973-74 season when CCSU kicked the all-time series off with an 89-87 win. The Blue Devils currently hold an 8-6 edge in the all-time series, all but one of those contests coming at the Division II level. CCSU was a member of the Division II ranks through the 1985-86 campaign, making the jump to DI prior to the 1986-87 season.

Last year, the teams faced off just once, with the Blue Devils topping the Bulldogs at the Chace Athletic Center, 65-61. Current senior captains Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) and Chris Birrell (Scituate, R.I.) paced the Black and Gold with 15 and 14 points, respectively, who now-graduated Jerrann Wright pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Birrell dished out four assists and grabbed four steals while Gresham and Peter Lambert each chipped in a trio of 3-pointers.

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS
CCSU is led by a pair of 12+ point scorers in Robby Ptacek (12.9 ppg) and Shemik Thompson (12.5 ppg). The Blue Devils have been without NEC Preseason All-Conference selection Ken Horton, who will miss the entire season due to injury, but have been successful nonetheless, led on the glass by 7.4 boards per game from David Simmons. Thompson's 65 assists are a team best as are his 39 steals, while Joe Efese has posted 26 rejections on the season. As a team, CCSU shoots well from the line (71.2 percent) and a shade under 40 percent from the field (.396) and looks for its first winning streak of the season with a victory over Bryant.

BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
Bryant is 0-10 against its home conference in 2009-10, having played its first official game against the NEC back on December 3, 2009 when the Bulldogs fell to LIU, 62-46. All-time against current Northeast Conference opponents, the Bulldog basketball program is 34-70, having most frequently played former Northeast-10 Conference (DII) members Quinnipiac (16-37). Bryant continues to play its full league slate in 2010 after going 6-8 against the NEC last season, taking wins over Quinnipiac (twice), LIU, Fairleigh Dickinson, Saint Francis (PA) and Monmouth.

LAST TIME OUT
Senior captain Chris Birrell (Scituate, R.I.) scored 15 points and freshman Vlad Kondratyev (Nikolayev, Ukraine) added 13 more, but it was not enough as the Bryant University men's basketball team dropped a 50-46 decision to Monmouth Saturday afternoon at the Chace Athletic Center.

Bryant led for most of the game and took a 27-21 advantage into the locker room at the break before the visiting Hawks would take their first lead of the contest midway through the second half. But the Bulldogs would not go away, keeping the game close down the stretch and nearly forcing overtime with a frantic finish in the final seconds.

Trailing, 47-39, with under two minutes remaining, the Bulldogs made one last run at the Hawks in search of their first victory on the season. A Birrell three made it 47-42 with 1:12 left. Birrell would intercept a pass from Coleman near midcourt and the Bulldogs worked the ball over to Barry Latham (Taunton, Mass.), who buried a three to pull Bryant to within five, 47-42, with just 37.9 seconds left.

Forcing the Hawks to earn the win at the line, the Bulldogs fouled MU's James Hett who came into the game making just five free throws all season. But Hett hit them both to make it a four-point game. Bryant would not get any closer as Dutch Gaitley made one-of-two free throw attempts in the final seconds to help the Hawks pull away.

Monmouth was led by Campbell and forward Nick Deltufo, who each scored 15 points. Campbell, who was 0-1 from beyond the arc in the first half, made four three-pointers in the second frame to help Monmouth get out in front midway through the final session.

The Bulldogs came out red hot right from the start as two treys from Birrell and two power baskets inside by Kondratyev helped the home side jump out to a quick 12-2 lead over the Hawks in the first six minutes.

Monmouth fought its way back and pulled to within 23-19, thanks in large part to the hot shooting of DelTufo off the bench, who accounted for 11 of Monmouth's first 19 points. The Hawks would get within a pair, 23-21, but another long-range three by Birrell helped send the Bulldogs to locker room leading at the break, 27-21. 

In the second half, a basket by Mike Myers-Keitt and a baseline three from Will Campbell knotted the game at 30-30 with 10:30 remaining. It was the first tie of the contest since the opening tip.  

Kontratyev and the Bulldogs would answer with another power move in the paint, but Campbell drained another baseline trey to give Monmouth its first lead of the game, 33-32 with 9:13 left on the clock.

The Bulldogs would trail, 38-35, but worked hard to battle back, regaining the lead thanks to a pair of free throws by Kondratyev. Bryant struggled from the line for most of the night, making just 5-of-13 attempts through the eight-minute mark of the second half, but Kondratyev calmly sank both to give Bryant a 39-38 lead with 5:58 remaining.

Monmouth, which shot 33 percent in the first half, started to ride the hot hand of Campbell, who again got a friendly roll with another trey.

"Number 10 [Campbell] hit some bit 3s down the stretch," said Bryant head coach Tim O'Shea. "He really was the difference in the game."

Whitney Coleman followed, knocking down a deep two to push the visitors back out in front, 43-39.

The Bulldogs were outshot on the day, 36.4 percent to 34.1 percent, and were outrebounded by the Hawks, 40-27. Bryant made just 8-of-17 free throws in the game. 

"We're obviously disappointed because we had a chance," said O'Shea, "but we didn't make the plays we needed to down the stretch, that includes making free throws and giving up some key turnovers.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs waste no time in making the return trip to CCSU, and Bryant will visit Detrick Gym Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m.) for the season finale against the Blue Devils to wrap up the inaugural NEC Rivalry Week.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
While Russian-born freshman Vlad Kondratyev hasn't gotten much attention this season, he has emerged as one of the NEC's top rookies in recent weeks and has been the Bulldogs' saving grace since the loss of senior scorer Cecil Gresham. Kondratyev has recorded double-digit scoring outputs in eight of the last 10 contests - averaging 12.9 points per game in that span - including posting 13 points Saturday against Monmouth. In the last 10 contests, the frosh forward has lifted his scoring average from 4.4 points per outing to 8.4 points per game and now leads the team in scoring. Kondratyev currently ranks fourth in the Northeast Conference with a .504 field goal percentage and leads all NEC rookies in the category. The 6-foot-8 forward has also set a number of new career marks since opening the new year:

 » Points: 20 (at Sacred Heart, Jan. 23)
 » Rebounds: 8 (vs. FDU, Jan. 28)
 » Blocks: 3 (vs. Monmouth, Jan. 30)
 » Field goals made: 8 (at Sacred Heart, Jan. 23)
 » Field goals attempted: 15 (at FDU, Jan. 7)
 » Minutes played: 29 (at Monmouth, Jan. 9; vs. Monmouth, Jan. 30)
 » Free throws made: 5 (vs. Monmouth, Jan. 30)
 » Free throws attempted: 7 (vs. Monmouth, Jan. 30)
 » 3-point field goals made: 2 (vs. FDU, Jan. 28)

Kondratyev has nine total double-digit point performances on the year and went 8-for-11 from the field and 4-for-4 from the line to achieve his career-high 20-point performance against the Pioneers (Jan. 23). The 20-point feat is just the third of the season among all of the Bulldog players and is tied for second for individual points scored performances on the year (Cecil Gresham, 26 vs. Bucknell; Chris Birrell, 20 at Army).

PULLING RANK
Senior captain Chris Birrell has stood out as of late, upping his scoring average to 6.3 points per game (tied for second on the team), while leading the Bulldogs in steals (36), assists (51) and 3-pointers made (36). But these numbers are not just good to pace the team, some of them also rank him among the elite within the Northeast Conference. Birrell is currently ranked sixth in the NEC in steals (1.64 per game) and is 12th in the league in 3-point field goals (1.64). The senior point guard has taken just 33 shots from inside 3-point range all season and has made just 11 of them, posting a better percentage from beyond the arc (.340) than from the field as a whole (.338) or from field goal range (.333).

In the Bryant record books, Birrell is moving his way up a number of all-time lists as well, passing career milestones along the way. The senior used a nine-assist weekend in early January to push past the 250-career assist benchmark and is currently seventh all-time in career helpers (271). His 128 made 3-point field goals are good for sixth all-time, and he sits in fourth for all-time career steals (146). Birrell is also just 10 boards away from eclipsing the 250-career rebound mark and has 643 career points in under three seasons with the Bulldogs.

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