Bulldogs begin final week of the season, play at St. Francis Brooklyn, Thursday at 7 p.m.

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team closes out the final week of the regualar season on the road, first taking on St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

THE SERIES
Thursday's contest marks the 13th all-time between the Bulldogs and the Terriers, with this week's hosts holding a 7-5 edge in the series. The Bulldogs have won two straight and are 5-2 against the Terriers in Smithfield, but they have yet to win a game in Brooklyn Heights (0-5).

SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
Now that the eight teams are locked in for the NEC tournament, the only thing that needs to shape itself out is seeding. St. Francis enters Thursday's matchup tied for fourth place, and will look to its three double-digit scorers with the hopes of elevating in the standings. The Terriers' backcourt of senior Tyreek Jewell and junior Yunus Hopkinson lead the squad with 13.3 and 11.9 points per game, respectively. Hopkinson leads the team with 2.93 assists per contest and in 3-point field goal percentage (.371), while Jewell sits second in helpers per effort. Senior forward Chris Hooper nets 11.6 points per game on a .595 clip from the floor, ranking him third in the NEC. Senior bigman Amdy Fall is not known for his offense at 5.4 points per night, but he leads the team in rebounds (6.7) and blocks (2.03) per contest, as the latter stat heads the league. Collectively, the Terriers lead the conference in blocks per game and made 3-pointers, and they sit second in fewest points allowed per game (67.2) and lowest opponent field-goal accuracy (.434). 

TOP DAWGS VS. ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN
Senior captain Shane McLaughlin had a relatively quiet night against the Terriers back on Jan. 14, only scoring four points, but he made his second shot when it counted most, delivering the game-winner for the Bulldogs with 1.1 seconds on the clock. Junior bigman Dan Garvin posted 10 points and six boards against St. Francis in that contest, and he averages 8.3 points and 5.8 rebounds in four career matchups against the Terriers. Sophomore Hunter Ware connected on four treys in that contest on Jan. 14 and netted a team-best 14 points, while froshes Marcel Pettway and Nisre Zouzoua had strong starts to their careers against the Terriers with 12 and 10 points, respectively, as Pettway snared 12 boards.  
 
BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE  
The Bulldogs are 4-12 against Northeast Conference competition in 2015-16 with an overall record of 47-74 against current NEC members since joining the Division I ranks. Prior to the 2012-13 campaign, Bryant held a 9-44 record against conference opponents, but has recorded a 38-30 record over the last three seasons. The Black and Gold are 22-15 at home versus the NEC and 19-17 on the road since 2012-13. All-time against current conference institutions, the Bulldog basketball program is 61-91.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bulldogs held an 11-8 lead with 12:48 to play in the first half on Saturday, but were outscored, 22-7, to close out the frame, and got no closer than eight points in the second stanza before falling to Mount St. Mary's, 71-53. Rookies Nisre Zouzoua and Marcel Pettway paced Bryant with 20 and 13 points, respectively, while combining for 12 boards. Senior captain Curtis Oakley Jr. netted four points and grabbed a career-high nine caroms in the senior day loss. Junior Robinson charged the Mountaineers with 17 points, 10 of which came at the charity stripe. Charles Glover contributed 13 points, and BK Ashe charted a double-double with 11 points and a contest-best 10 rebounds. Bryant shot just 32 percent from the floor (18-56) and 14.3 percent from long range (2-14). The Mount converted 37.5 percent of its shots from the field (21-56) and shot at a .321 clip from beyond the arc (9-28).
 
QUICK HITS
» You Can Find Me In the 500 Club: Sophomore guard Hunter Ware scored his 500th career point at the 9:10 mark of the first half against the Knights on Feb. 11, making him the third fasted Bulldog (56 games) to accumulate 500 career points in the program's Division I history. Only Alex Francis ('14) and Dyami Starks ('15) accomplished the feat in fewer contests, doing so in 34 and 46 games, respectively.

» Livin Life In the Fast Lane: The Bulldogs gave up 91 points to FDU on Feb. 11, but managed to score 77 points themselves, marking the first time that Bryant has scored at least 77 points in a losing effort since Dec. 21, 2013, which was a 108-107 overtime defeat against Delaware.

» Deceptive Percentages: The Bulldogs lost the Jan. 30 contest to the Red Flash despite holding SFU to a mere 31 percent from the floor and 19 percent from long range. It was the lowest percentage from 3-point land that Bryant had allowed all season and it was the first time the program had restricted an opponent from exceeding 31 and 19 percent from the floor and beyond the arc, respectively, in a game since joining the Division I ranks.
 
» Roller Coaster: After opening conference play winning four of the first five games, the Bulldogs have dropped the last 12 NEC matchups. The Black and Gold have not been defeated in 12 or more league contests in a row since the 2011-2012 season.

» Dan the Man: Junior forward Dan Garvin netted a career-high 25 points and corralled 14 boards for his fourth double-double of the season and the 13th of his career in the Bulldogs' loss at Sacred Heart on Jan. 30. It makes Garvin just the second player in Bryant's DI tenure to record at least 25 points and 14 rebounds in a game, and just the third Bulldog to chart those numbers since the 2001-2002 campaign.

IF NO ONE, IS IN FRONT OF YOU THEN YOU ARE AT THE CHARITY (STRIPE)
The Bulldogs have struggled from the line this season, ranking last in the NEC in free-throw accuracy (.641). But the Feb. 18th output from the line (14-for-14) against the Pioneers is the first time in the team's Division I history that it has been perfect from the line. The effort marks just the fourth time in program history that Bryant has shot 100.0 percent from the charity stripe. Over the last three games, the Bulldogs have gone 45-of-53 from the line, marking the second-highest percentage (84.9) for the program over a three-game stretch since 2007.    

TREY IS NOT BAE BAE
The 1-for-16 clip from beyond the arc against Sacred Heart on Feb. 18 is the second-worst performance (6.3 percent) from 3-point land that the Bulldogs have put forth in their Division I history. On that same day, Sacred Heart converted 1-of-15 from long range and its 6.7 percent effort is the second lowest accuracy that Bryant has allowed an opponent since joining the DI ranks. The Bulldogs followed up the performance with a .143 clip against Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 20 (2-for-14), marking the first time since 2010 that they have drained less than four triples over a two-game span.

AND THESE FRESHMEN AIN'T NEVER DID THIS BEFORE, NO
The Bulldogs have a bright future in rookie bigman Marcel Pettway and first-year guard Nisre Zouzoua, but are well positioned in the present as well. The freshmen are averaging 11.0 and 11.9 points per game, respectively, to rank them fifth and first among NEC rookies. The forward-guard combo amasses 22.9 points per effort, and rank inside the top 20 among all newcomer scoring duos at the Division I level. Pettway and Zouzoua sit one and two among NEC freshmen, respectively, in points per game during league action with a 13.4 and 12.7 average, respectively.   

MODEL OF ASSISTANCY
Senior captain Shane McLaughlin nearly charted a triple-double by netting 21 points, grabbing a career-high 10 caroms, and dishing out eight assists in the 2OT win over Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 9, making the guard the first player in Bryant's Division I history to record at least 20 points, 10 boards and five assists in a game. McLaughlin has now distributed at least five assists in 12 of the last 18 contests. The Old Tappan, N.J. native leads the Northeast Conference in assists per game with 5.03 and 5.56 helpers in conference play.   

HIGH MILEAGE FOR MCLAUGHLIN
Senior point guard Shane McLaughlin is once again proving to be a workhorse for the Bulldogs on the court, playing 34 minutes or more in 25 of the season's 29 contests. The Old Tappan, N.J., native was third in the NEC last year with an average of 36.68 minutes per game and currently sits second as a senior with an average of 36.41 minutes per outing. As a starter (78 games), McLaughlin has played 37 minutes or more 40 times. He has played the entire game nine times in the span, including all 50 minutes in a double-overtime win against Sacred Heart in last year's NEC Tournament. McLaughlin logged 48 minutes on the floor in the double-overtime win over Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 9. 

ON THE REBOUND
The Bulldogs have been outrebounded in 24 of their 29 games this season, losing the battle on the glass in each of the first 12 games to begin the year. This was the first time in the program's Division I history the team had opened a campaign on the short side on the glass in 12-straight outings. The last time the Bulldogs were outboarded in more than seven-straight games at any point in a season was back in 2011-12, when the team lost the battle on the boards in nine-consecutive games from Nov. 27-Jan. 5. To find the last time the squad was outrebounded in 12 or more straight contests, you must look all the way back to the 2009-10 season, when the Bulldogs lost the board battle in 20 in a row from Dec. 3-Feb. 13. Bryant currently ranks 317th in rebounding margin (-5.1) among all DI teams.

LINEUP DANCING
Through 29 games in this 2015-16 campaign, the Bulldogs have unveiled 10 variations of their starting lineup. Head coach Tim O'Shea has repeated a starting lineup just twice this year, but has found success in a consistent opening five. The cast of senior Shane McLaughlin, sophomore Hunter Ware, freshman Nisre Zouzoua, freshman Marcel Pettway and junior Dan Garvin earned 16-consecutive starting nods from Dec. 8 - Feb. 18. The Bulldogs have not seen 10 or more editions of a starting lineup since the 2011-12 season.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs put a stamp on the 2015-16 campaign on Saturday against LIU Brooklyn. Tipoff from the Steinberg Wellness Center is set for 4:00 p.m.