Four in double figures as Bryant downs Wagner, 79-58

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) scored a game-high 21 points and the Bryant University men's basketball team received double-digit scoring efforts from freshmen Charles Pride (Syracuse, N.Y.), Michael Green III (Bronx, N.Y.) and Benson Lin (New Taipei City, Taiwan) to defeat Wagner, 79-58, Thursday night at the Chace Athletic Center.

Pride tallied 16 points and eight rebounds, Green added 15 points and Lin chipped in with 11 as Bryant matched last season's win total in its 19^th contest of the year.

GAME INFORMATION
Bryant 79, Wagner 58
Records: Bryant (10-9, 2-4 NEC), Wagner (5-13, 2-5 NEC)
Location: Chace Athletic Center (Smithfield, R.I.)

KEY MOMENTS

• Wagner limited Bryant to seven points in the opening 10 minutes of the contest for a four-point advantage.
• Grant hit three three-pointers late in the first half to help the Bulldogs to a three-point halftime cushion.
• Bryant scored 53 second-half points, leading by as many as 25 after the break. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The early portion of the contest was a defensive slog with Wagner leading 11-7 midway through the opening stanza.
• The Wagner lead would go between two and four points until Grant hit three long three-pointers in span of 1:26 to put Bryant in front 26-21 with 1:18 to play before the half.
• A four-point play from Lin and a three by Grant prompted a Wagner timeout with Bryant leading 33-25 with 17:52 to go.
• Threes from Grant and junior Mikail Simmons (Murphy, Texas) pushed the Bryant advantage to 43-29 with 15:03 remaining.
• Four straight points from Green pushed the Bulldog lead to 20 for the first time on the night at 57-37 with 10:18 to play.
• A pair of threes from Green and points from Grant and sophomore Patrick Harding (Fairfield, Conn.) gave Bryant its largest lead of the night at 73-48 with 5:36 to go.
• Redshirt-sophomore Dren Dedushaj (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and freshman Timmy Kiggins (Westbury, N.Y.) saw action for the final 64 seconds of the contest.

STATS

• Grant was 7-of-13 from the field and 6-of-10 from three while adding four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
• Pride shot 7-of-9 from the floor and matched his career-high with eight rebounds.
• Green was 7-of-8 at the line and racked up five rebounds and three assists.
• Redshirt-junior Hall Elisias (Valley Stream, N.Y.) tallied three points, six rebounds and three blocks in 17 minutes in his return to action, moving within three blocks of Bryant's Division I single-season record.
• Harding grabbed eight of Bryant's 41 rebounds.
• Bryant shot 49.1 percent – its highest mark against a Division I opponent this season – and was 12-for-30 (40.0%) from three.

GAME NOTES

• Grant tallied his 11^th game of 20 or more points this season and 34^th of his career.
• Elisias moved into a tie for fifth with Vlad Kondratyev on Bryant's D1 career blocks list with 51. Senior Juan Cardenas (Apartado, Colombia) added two blocks to move within eight of second on the career list.
• Bryant improves to 8-11 all-time against Wagner and has won three straight in the series.
• The Bulldogs have recorded 10 or more wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2013-15.

UP NEXT
Bryant begins a stretch of three straight road games when the Bulldogs face Mount St. Mary's Saturday at 5 p.m. in Emmitsburg, Maryland. 

Bryant Men's Basketball 2019-20 tickets are available by clicking HERE. The Bulldogs return home Thursday, Feb. 6, to host St. Francis Brooklyn at 7 p.m.

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