Bulldogs travel to FDU for Thursday night matchup against Knights (7:00 p.m.)

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team looks to clinch its third-straight playoff berth when it takes on Fairleigh Dickinson at Stratis Arena in Hackensack, N.J., Thursday night. The 7 p.m. tip can be seen live on NECFrontRow.com.

THE SERIES
Thursday's game marks the 10th all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and the Knights, with the series all tied up at 5-5. The teams are also tied in the series both in Smithfield (3-3) and in Hackensack (2-2) after the Black and Gold took a 73-60 victory over FDU at home earlier this year. Bryant has won the last two meetings on the Knights' home court.

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
Mustafaa Jones and Darian Anderson lead FDU with 13.9 and 10.7 points per game, respectively, and are the only two Knights to have started all 23 games. Xavier Harris is the team's leader on the glass at 6.1 rebounds each time out (7.3 ppg), while Marques Townes (9.1 ppg) is the most accurate shooter on the side, converting 53.3 percent of his shots on the year (81-152). Anderson represents FDU's top 3-point threat at 35.4 percent (28-79) from beyond the arc and dishes out a side-high 2.4 dimes per outing. As a team, the Knights score 66.5 points per game on 41.1 percent shooting but allow opponents 72.7 points each time out off a 46.3 percent shooting. FDU is being outrebounded, 37.7 to 30.7 on the season.

BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The Bulldogs are 8-4 in Northeast Conference play in 2014-15 and sport a 39-60 record (.394) against current NEC members since joining the Division I ranks. All-time against current conference institutions, the Bulldog basketball program is 53-77 (.408). Entering Thursday's action, Bryant sits tied with Robert Morris for second place in the NEC standings.

WIN AND YOU'RE IN
With six regular-season games still to play, the Bulldogs need just a single victory to clinch their third-straight NEC Tournament berth. The league's top eight teams progress into the postseason, and league-leading St. Francis Brooklyn (10-2 in conference) punched the first tournament ticket Saturday afternoon.

EXTRA EXTRA
The Bulldogs played in their first overtime game of the season Saturday in an 84-75 loss at Sacred Heart. It was the first extra session Bryant has played since Dec. 21, 2013, when the Black and Gold fell to the University of Delaware, 108-107, at Madison Square Garden. The last time the Bulldogs won in overtime was Dec. 14, 2013 (90-80 win at Navy). Saturday's overtime loss marked the first time this season the Bulldogs gave up a double-digit lead (17 points) and lost the game.

IRONMEN
Bryant saw just eight players take the court over the course of last week's three-game stretch, with five Bulldogs averaging more than 35 minutes per game. Junior Shane McLaughlin led the way, averaging 41.3 minutes per outing in three starts. Senior guard Dyami Starks also averaged more than 40 minutes per outing (40.7), while sophomore forward Dan Garvin (37.0), redshirt-freshman guard Bosko Kostur (36.7) and senior guard Joe O'Shea (36.0) all averaged 36 minutes or more of floor time on the week. Only six Bulldogs appeared in all three contests.

Over the last six games, McLaughlin has missed just five minutes of court time, appearing in 40+ minutes five times, while Starks has played the entire contest three times in that span.

THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER
If it seems like redshirt-freshman forward Bosko Kostur has come out of nowhere to become a key cog in the Bulldog lineup, you aren't far off. After playing just a combined 55 minutes over the first 18 games of the season (10 appearances) and averaging only 2.1 points and 0.9 rebounds per game, Kostur has earned a starting spot in the last four contests and is averaging 14.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 33.8 minutes per game through the team's last five outings. The springy 6-foot-7 wing has also shot an efficient and team-leading 54.3 percent (25-46) from the floor and 50.0 percent (7-14) from 3-point range over that span.

Last week, he tied for game scoring honors with 17 points in a 55-53 home win over Mount St. Mary's, then adding 15 in an overtime setback at Sacred Heart. Kostur's breakout game came Jan. 29 at Saint Francis U., when the Melbourne, Australia resident exploded for new career highs in points (18), rebounds (7), assists (3), field goals (7), field goals attempted (12) and minutes (32) while tying his career mark at the free throw line (3-4). He has since reset his personal bests in minutes (42 at Sacred Heart) and at the line (5-for-5 vs. Mount St. Mary's).

OH DANNY BOY
Sophomore forward Dan Garvin has been stellar for the Bulldogs since the start of NEC play through early February. The bigman's 24 points against Pitt Feb. 2 marked his third career-high scoring performance in a four-game span, over which he averaged 18.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while shooting nearly 59 percent from the floor. The Bethel, Conn., native then went on to post his fourth double-double of the year Saturday afternoon at Sacred Heart, scoring 15 while pulling down a game-best 15 rebounds despite the overtime loss.

Since the start of 2015, Garvin is averaging 12.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game with four double-doubles, three 20-point games and a .519 shooting clip (69-133). He is also 42-of-54 from the line this calendar year while leading the team in blocks (18) and steals (16). Garvin picked up double-doubles twice against Sacred Heart (20p, 13r Jan. 24; 15p, 15r Feb. 7), at Central Connecticut Jan. 17 (15p, 11r) and vs. Fairleigh Dickinson Jan. 10 (16p, 18r). His 18 boards against the Knights are tied for the most in the NEC this season and marked the highest total by a Bulldog since Alex Francis ('14) recorded 18 at CCSU on January 12, 2013. Garvin has led the Bulldogs in scoring three times and has paced his team on the glass 14 times this season and 23 times in his career.

STARKS ENTERS NEC'S ALL-TIME TOP-15
After becoming the 50th player in NEC history to reach 200 career 3-pointers back on Dec. 3, senior guard Dyami Starks has been working his way up the league's all-time list, officially joining the top-15 Saturday at Sacred Heart. Six more treys moved him past Rob Monroe (Quinnipiac '05) and into sole possession of 14th in the all-time rankings with 254 trifectas over the course of his three-year Bryant career. To reach the top-10, the Minnesota native — who currently averages 3.1 triples per game — needs to hit 16 more treys. Already, Starks is Bryant's Division I leader in threes, and the senior moved into fourth on the program's all-time list on Jan. 20. Including his rookie season at Columbia, Starks now has 273 career trifectas.

BULLDOGS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Senior guard Dyami Starks enters Thursday's matchup ranked 17th in the national statistics for threes per game (3.09, 1st in NEC). The Duluth, Minn., native also ranks 17th in free throw percentage (.884, 1st in NEC), eighth in minutes per game (37:36, 1st in NEC), 68th in points per game (17.5, 2nd in NEC) and 85th in 3-point percentage (.338, 2nd in NEC). Sophomore forward Dan Garvin ranks 64th in rebounds per game (8.0, 3rd in NEC) and 46th in offensive boards per game (3.17, 2nd in NEC), while junior guard Shane McLaughlin is 50th in minutes per outing (35:44, 3rd in NEC) and 93rd in assists per game (4.3, 3rd in NEC). As a team, the Bulldogs rank 30th in free throw percentage (.737, 1st in NEC), 50th in turnovers per game (11.5, 1st in NEC) and 87th in 3-pointers per game (7.2, 3rd in NEC).

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs continue their trip down the east coast and will next play a rematch against Mount St. Mary's Saturday afternoon in Emmitsburg, Md. (2:00 p.m.).