Zouzoua's 29 points not enough in Thursday’s 80-77 overtime loss to Terriers to open league play

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y. – After holding double-digit leads at three separate marks and leading for over 18 minutes in the first half, the Bryant University men's basketball did not lead for the final 13:49 in Thursday's wild Northeast Conference opener overtime loss to St. Francis Brooklyn, 80-77.

Sophomore Nisre Zouzoua (Brockton, Mass.) led all scorers with 29 points on 8-of-13 shooting and a perfect 12-for-12 from the line, as he drained just one three. Classmate Marcel Pettway (North Providence, R.I.) tallied the first double-double for the Bulldogs (3-10, 0-1) this season with 16 points and 10 boards. Freshman Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) netted 14 points and senior Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) statted eight points and nine rebounds in his first game since Nov. 26.

The Terriers (3-12, 1-0) were fueled by freshman Rasheem Dunn, who scored 24 points and grabbed seven boards. Yunus Hopkinson netted 10, Robert Montgomery scored 10 to go along with seven caroms and Glenn Sanabria tallied 13 points in the win.   

Bryant limited the Terriers to just 25.0 percent from three in the opening frame, but the hosts started to connect on the deep ball in the second half, hitting four of its first 10 over the first 11 minutes to force three separate ties. A Sanabria steal led to an easy basket for Dunn in transition to give the Terriers their first lead since the 16:48 mark of the first half, 53-51, with 8:49 to play.

Bryant trailed for nearly the rest of the way, though the lead got no greater than four over the next eight minutes until a Sanabria layup pushed the margin to five, 67-62, with 53 seconds left. Zouzoua scored four-straight points to get his team within one with under 30 seconds remaining. After Dunn got fouled and missed the second of two free throws, Zouzoua took it to the rack on the other end. He missed the layup, but Grant was there for the putback with three seconds to play, and Sanabria's three at the horn was too strong, sending the game into overtime.

Dunn and Zouzoua exchanged five points each to start the overtime, as the game was all even with 2:30 to go. Dunn hit his second triple on the following trip from the right corner to end the stalemate and make it 76-73. The Bulldogs missed their next two shots, but were still within one basket thanks to two misses at the line from the Terriers.

After a Pettway layup made it 78-77 with 20 seconds to play, Sanabria was quickly fouled and sent to the line for two. He missed both attempts, setting the visitors up with a chance to take the lead. Grant drove hard to the rim, absorbed contact on a miss, but no foul was called, and Sanabria grabbed the board. He was fouled and made up for his previous trip by hitting two shots at the stripe. Zouzoua elevated for a three over two defenders in the final seconds, but the shot hit the front of the rim.  

After leading by as many as 12 in the first frame, Gianni Ford and Jahmel Bodrick hit consecutive layups as part of 12 of the final 17 points for the Terriers in the opening half, capped off by a Sanabria triple to make it 36-31 in favor of Bryant at the break.

A Grant jumper 1:13 into the second stanza gave the Bulldogs a seven-point edge. But the Terriers kept things close over the next nine minutes, not allowing the deficit to get higher than five, as they were finally able to regain a lead and would not trail over the final 13:49.  

The Bulldogs played one of their best defensive contests of the season, limiting the Terriers to just 39.7 percent from the floor (29-73) and 26.3 percent from beyond the arc (10-38). Bryant connected on 50 percent of its shots (28-56), but hit just two of its 10 three-point attempts.

Bryant closes out the 2016 portion of the schedule at LIU Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon, with tipoff set for 4:30.