MBB falls to Wagner, 89-75, on Sat.

O'SHEA'S CAREER-HIGH 21 NOT ENOUGH AGAINST WAGNER

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Despite a career-high 21 points from sophomore Joe O'Shea (Burlington, Vt.), the Bryant University men's basketball team could not hold off Wagner as the Seahawks defeated the Bulldogs, 89-75, on Saturday at the Spiro Sports Center.

With the loss, the Bulldogs (16-8, 9-4 NEC) dropped both games of their road trip and have now lost back-to-back games for just the third time this season. The Seahawks (15-10, 9-5 NEC) have now won six of their last eight and move within a half game of the Black and Gold in the NEC standings. Bryant's loss, coupled with victories by Robert Morris and LIU Brooklyn, also knocks it out of first place in the standings.

In a classic basketball game that featured runs by both teams, it was the Green and White that were able to pull away in the second half. After back-to-back threes from Frankie Dobbs (Berea, Ohio) and Dyami Starks (Duluth, Minn.) gave Bryant its biggest lead of the afternoon, 52-46, with 14:47 to play, the Seahawks began to chip away thanks to Latif Rivers. After scoring just two points in the first half, the junior went off for 18 in the second half, leading his team to victory. His second three of the half stunted the Bryant run and he then hit another three to give Wagner a 58-56 lead with 11:43 remaining.

Bryant would eventually retake the lead on an O'Shea three, 63-60, with 10:05 to play but it would be their last lead of the afternoon. Wagner scored the next seven points, five-straight from Marcus Burton, and never looked back. Trailing by four following a Dobbs three, Rivers put the game away with a deep triple from the corner, making it 78-71 Wagner. The Seahawks closed the door on Bryant by making nine free throws down the stretch.

In a back-and-forth first half, it was the Seahawks that came out on top with a 37-34 lead. A Starks three opened the scoring but thunderous dunks from Jonathon Williams and Josh Thompson highlighted a string of six-straight points for Wagner. Bryant regained the lead with six-straight points of its own, including back-to-back buckets from Vlad Kondratyev (Nikolayev, Ukraine), building its biggest lead of the half at 15-10. As was the theme of the first half, Wagner roared back to build an eight-point lead, 29-21, behind back-to-back threes from Thompson and Burton. The Black and Gold were able to trim the lead to one with under a minute to play as Starks splashed a three to make it 35-34. A Rivers layup with 20 seconds remaining set the score at the half.

In his finest game of the season, O'Shea led all scorers with a career-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting. He was a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line and added eight rebounds. Starks (19 pts), Dobbs (13 pts, 7 ast) and Alex Francis (Harlem, N.Y.) (10 pts, 8 reb) all joined O'Shea in double-figures. Bryant started the second half 9-of-15 but went just of 6-for-17 down the stretch, finishing the game at 46.7 percent. Rivers's 20 points led Wagner, while Williams (15 pts), Burton (14 pts) and Ortiz (11 pts) all scored in double-digits. The Seahawks shot 54 percent on the afternoon.

Bryant will now look to rebound as they return home next Thursday, Feb. 21 to host Central Connecticut at 7:00 p.m. Starting against the Blue Devils, the Bulldogs will play four of their final five games inside the friendly confines of the Chace Athletic Center.