Townes, Kasperzyk power Bryant past Mount St. Mary's

EMMITSBURG, Md. – Junior SaBastian Townes (Chesapeake, Va.) and freshman Joe Kasperzyk (New Haven, Conn.) scored 21 points each to lead the Bryant University men's basketball team to its second-ever win at Mount St. Mary's with a 66-59 victory Thursday night.

Townes collected his third double-double of the year with 21 points and a career-best 11 rebounds, while Kasperzyk scored a career-high 21 points with three three-pointers. Bryant matched its NEC win total from a year ago in just its third conference contest of 2018-19.

GAME INFORMATION
Bryant 66, Mount St. Mary's 59
Records: Bryant (5-9, 2-1), Mount St. Mary's (3-13, 0-3)
Location: Knott Arena (Emmitsburg, Md.)

COACH GRASSO'S COMMENTS
"I'm proud of our guys' defensive effort on a night where we struggled shooting the ball from the three-point line and charity stripe. We will enjoy it until midnight and then move on to prep for a very talented and well-coached Sacred Heart team that has been an offensive juggernaut so far this season. We will have our work cut out for us."

KEY MOMENTS

• Bryant held Mount St. Mary's to one point over a span of 8:03 to build a 23-14 lead with 1:44 before halftime.
• A Kasperzyk three and Townes layup gave Bryant its largest lead of the night at 53-41 with 6:31 to go. The Bulldogs would lead by at least five the rest of the way.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Mount opened the game up 8-2, but Bryant used an 8-1 run to pull ahead 10-9 on a Kasperzyk free throw with 11:10 to go in the half.
• An 8-0 Bryant run put the Bulldogs ahead 23-14 with 1:45 left before halftime.
• Townes scored six of the first Bryant eight points out of the half to push the lead back to eight at 33-25 with 17:04 remaining.
• A Kasperzyk three, his third of the night, extended the lead back to 10 at 51-41 with 7:12 to go.
• After Mount had cut the lead to 55-50 and regained possession on an offensive foul, a charge taken by senior Taylor McHugh (Centreville, Va.) with 4:10 remaining led to a Townes layup at the other end to put the Black and Gold ahead by seven.
• Bryant made seven of its last eight free throws to seal the victory, with four from Kasperzyk and three from redshirt-senior Byron Hawkins (Fort Washington, Md.).

STATS

• Townes scored 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting with a career-high 11 rebounds.
• Kasperzyk tallied his career-best 21 points on 6-of-10 from the floor, 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and 6-of-8 from the line.
• Hawkins chipped in 11 points, five rebounds and three steals.
• Bryant shot 46.9 percent for the game and 56 percent in the second half. Mount St. Mary's was at 40.8 percent for the contest and 50 percent after halftime.
• The Bulldogs outrebounded the Mountaineers, 34-31.

GAME NOTES

• Townes posted his fourth game this year of 20 or more points, all in his last six contests. His 11 rebounds topped 10-rebound performances earlier this season against Saint Peter's and New Hampshire.
• Kasperzyk's 21 points bested a career-high of 19 against Dartmouth Dec. 21. The freshman from New Haven is averaging 15.7 points per game in six contests off the bench.
• Bryant improves to 8-11 against Mount St. Mary's in the Division I era and 2-8 in Emmitsburg.

UP NEXT
Bryant closes the second weekend of NEC play Saturday at Sacred Heart. The 2 p.m. tip in Fairfield, Connecticut, can be seen on NEC Front Row.

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

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