Brown defeats Bryant, 73-71; Grant, Green combine for 35

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) scored a team-high 21 points and freshman Michael Green III (Bronx, N.Y.) provided a dazzling debut, but a basket in the closing seconds lifted Brown past Bryant, 73-71, in a back-and-forth season opener Tuesday night at the Chace Athletic Center.

Grant tallied 14 of his 21 points in the second half and knocked down three shots from beyond the arc. Green chipped in with 14 points in his first collegiate game while adding five rebounds, four assists and a collection of highlight-reel drives and passes. Junior Mikail Simmons (Murphy, Texas) added 11 points in his Bryant debut, driven by a trio of second-half three-pointers.

GAME INFORMATION
Brown 73, Bryant 71
Records: Bryant (0-1), Brown (1-0)
Location: Chace Athletic Center (Smithfield, R.I.)

KEY MOMENTS

• A sluggish start was overcome with a 14-0 run that gave the Bulldogs their first lead at 18-17 on a three-pointer from Grant with 7:58 remaining in the opening half.
• Brown would take leads of seven and six points in the second half, but both times Bryant chipped away, tying the game on a Simmons three with 14 minutes to play and going ahead on an alley-oop with 3:25 to go.
• The lead changed six times in the final 3:25, with Brown's Brandon Anderson sinking the game-deciding basket with 12 seconds remaining.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Brown opened the game with a 17-4 advantage before Bryant erupted for the next 14, taking the lead on Grant's three with 7:58 to go in the first half.
• The Bears scored eight straight points to go ahead 32-30 before a tip-in from redshirt-junior Hall Elisias (Valley Stream, N.Y.) evened the score with 37 seconds remaining in the half. Brown would take a one-point lead into the locker room at 34-33.
• Brown scored the first six out of the half, but Bryant would re-tie the contest on a three from junior Mikail Simmons (Murphy, Texas) with 14:16 to play.
• The Bears would extend the lead to as many as six before the Bulldogs went back in front on an alley-oop from Green to Elisias with 3:25 remaining, going ahead 67-66.
• The lead would change hands six times over a span of of 3:13 with Brown taking the lead for good with an even 12 seconds on the clock.
• Elisias was fouled on an offensive rebound with 1.1 seconds remaining and earned two free-throw attempts. The first was off-line and the second – an intentional miss – was corralled by the Bears to seal the game.

STATS

• Grant led the Bulldogs with 21 points, added three steals and the 300^th rebound of his career, tying Frankie Dobbs for ninth in Bryant's Division I era.
• Green was 5-of-9 from the floor in his collegiate debut and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.
• Elisias contributed nine points and a team-high six rebounds.
• Sophomore Patrick Harding (Fairfield, Conn.) collected a team-high 10 rebounds.
• Redshirt-junior Ikenna Ndugba (Boston, Mass.) played 28 minutes in his return to the court after missing all of last season, recording eight points, three rebounds, three assists and his 100^th career steal.
• Bryant shot 40.3 percent from the field, while Brown shot 43.4.
• The Bears outrebounded the Bulldogs, 42-37.
• The teams combined to shoot 52 free throws with Brown going 22-for-31 and Bryant 13-for-21.
• Bryant's bench scored 34 of the Bulldogs' 71 points.

GAME NOTES

• Grant's three steals moved him into a tie with Alex Francis for second in Bryant's Division I era with 109 in his career.
• Ndugba becomes the fifth Bulldog to record 100 career assists at the Division I level, joining Corey Maynard, Francis, Grant, and Hunter Ware. Chris Birrell tallied 99 in his three Division I seasons at Bryant and 161 in his entire career.
• Junior Ayo Dada (Houston, Texas) and freshmen Benson Lin (New Taipei City, Taiwan) and Charles Pride (Syracuse, N.Y.) also made their Bryant debuts Tuesday.
• Bryant drops to 2-17 all-time and 2-10 in its Division I era against Brown.
• Tuesday's attendance of 1,417 was the largest at the Chace Athletic Center since a Feb. 5, 2015 victory over Mount St. Mary's.

UP NEXT
Bryant will turn around for a Thursday contest at Rutgers at 7 p.m. on Big Ten Network.

Bryant Men's Basketball 2019-20 season tickets are available by clicking HERE. Tickets for Bryant's next home game Sunday vs. Cornell are available HERE.

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