Bryant defeated by Yale Wednesday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Redshirt-senior Byron Hawkins (Fort Washington, Md.) led three Bulldogs in double figures in scoring, but the Bryant University men's basketball team was defeated by visiting Yale, 103-61, Wednesday night at the Chace Athletic Center.

Juniors Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) and SaBastian Townes (Chesapeake, Va.) added 14 and 11 points respectively for Bryant, while freshman Patrick Harding (Fairfield, Conn.) chipped in with a game-high nine rebounds.

GAME INFORMATION
Yale 103, Bryant 61
Records: Bryant (1-5), Yale (2-2)
Location: Chace Athletic Center (Smithfield, R.I.)

COACH GRASSO'S COMMENTS
"Brown and Yale were both very good. They made a lot of shots, which we didn't do a great job defending. Both teams shot the ball very well. We have to improve dramatically on the defensive end. Missing Ikenna Ndugba, who's our best on-the-ball defender, we're unable to do some things we were planning to do defensively with him on the floor. We were planning to press a little more; we've had to scale back a little from doing that. But we have to improve with the guys we have on the floor right now." 

KEY MOMENT

• Yale used a 22-2 run to turn a 6-6 tie into a 28-8 advantage with 12:26 to go in the opening half.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Townes scored Bryant's first six points as the game was tied 6-6 2:15 into the contest.
• Yale hit six of its first seven three-point attempts and 11 of 14 field goals to go up 28-8 with 12:26 remaining in the first half.
• Bryant trailed 52-34 at the half with Yale shooting 59.4 percent from the field and 72.7 percent from three.
• Yale opened the second half on a 20-5 run, forcing a Bryant timeout with 13:08 to play.
• Bryant tallied seven of the final nine points of the game with four coming from freshman Nino Hernandez (Gardner, Mass.).

STATS

• Hawkins tallied 14 of his 18 points in the first half, while Grant dropped in 12 of his 14 in the second half.
• Townes' 11 points moved him to 501 for his collegiate career.
• Harding grabbed a game-high nine rebounds including four offensive boards.
• Junior Juan Cardenas (Medellin, Colombia) collected two blocks and two steals.

GAME NOTES

• Grant moved within 60 points of 1,000 for his collegiate career, while Hawkins pulled within 54.
• Grant recorded his 47^th career game of 10 or more points.
• Townes had his third double-digit scoring effort of the year and 24^th of his career.
• Hawkins was in double figures in scoring for the sixth time in as many games as a Bulldog.
• Townes' two three-pointers gave him five for the season, surpassing his career total from his first two years within the first six games of his junior campaign.
• Grant moved up to a tie for sixth place in Bryant's Division I era in assists with 161, tying Chris Birrell and passing Joe O'Shea.
• Harding has collected eight or more rebounds in four of his first six collegiate games.
• Hernandez knocked down four second-half free throws for his first points as a Bulldog.
• Bryant drops to 3-8 all-time against Yale.

UP NEXT
Bryant opens December at home Saturday at 1 p.m. against New Hampshire. Tickets are available by clicking HERE. The game can be seen on NEC Front Row and heard on WOON AM 1240 & 99.3 FM with Jon Wallach and Chris Burns on the call.

Season and single-game tickets for home games at the Chace Athletic Center are available by clicking HERE or calling (401) 319-TIXX.

Follow Bryant University men's basketball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get an inside look at the program.