Friday night battle in Brooklyn up next for Bryant
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y. – The Bryant University men's basketball team looks to win for the first time at the Pope Center and to move closer to clinching a Northeast Conference tournament berth when the Bulldogs face St. Francis Brooklyn Friday night.
Bryant, which is 3-2 in its last five games, enters Friday with an opportunity to move up in the conference race with a potential season sweep of St. Francis Brooklyn.
The Particulars
Opponent: St. Francis Brooklyn
Location: Pope Physical Education Center (Brooklyn Heights, N.Y.)
Date and Time: Friday, Feb. 21 – 7:30 p.m.
Watch: NEC Front Row
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #12Seven4 | #NECMBB
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
St. Francis Brooklyn is in a group of five teams separated by two games for the No. 4-8 seeds in the upcoming NEC tournament. The Terriers are 6-8 in the league but 9-3 this season in Brooklyn Heights including wins over Saint Francis U and Robert Morris.
Chauncey Hawkins (13.2 ppg) leads a group of four Terriers averaging at least 11 points per game. Unique McLean's 11.9 scoring average is complemented by 7.8 rebounds per game, which ranks sixth in the NEC. The Terriers' 5.2 blocks per game in conference play lead the league.
THE SERIES
The Terriers hold a 12-8 advantage in the all-time series and a 9-0 mark in Brooklyn Heights. Five of Bryant's last six losses at the Pope Center have been by single digits.
The Bulldogs took the first meeting of the year Feb. 6 with a 73-60 victory at the Chace Athletic Center. Senior Juan Cardenas (Apartado, Colombia) scored 18 points, while sophomore Patrick Harding (Fairfield, Conn.) collected a double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds.
LAST TIME OUT: BRYANT 61, MERRIMACK 52
Bryant held Merrimack to 10 points in the final 16:05 of the game to turn a 10-point second half deficit into a nine-point victory Tuesday in Smithfield. Redshirt-junior Hall Elisias (Valley Stream, N.Y.) tallied a career-high 15 points, while Cardenas recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and a career-best 15 rebounds.
GOING GREEN
Freshman Michael Green III (Bronx, N.Y.) averaged 19.5 points per game during the Bulldogs' two-game trip to Connecticut to earn NEC Rookie of the Week honors. The freshman from the Bronx scored a career-high 22 points in a nationally televised game at Sacred Heart Thursday and added 17 Saturday at Central Connecticut.
Green added 13 points and matched his career high with six rebounds in Tuesday's win over Merrimack.
RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF PROGRESS
Bryant's 13 victories on the year are good for the fourth-highest win total in the program's Division I era. The Bulldogs won 19 games in 2012-13, 18 in 2013-14 and 16 in 2014-15.
ONE NOT DONE
After a start to the season slowed by injury, Cardenas has found the same rhythm the forward had for the stretch run a year ago. Cardenas is averaging 11.3 points per game over his last 10 contests with five games of 10-plus points. The senior has shot 42.4% from three during that stretch.
Cardenas has risen to third on Bryant's D1 career blocks list with 64 rejections, passing Papa Lo with three Tuesday.
FRESH PRINCES OF SMITHFIELD
Bryant freshmen Benson Lin (New Taipei City, Taiwan), Green and Charles Pride (Syracuse, N.Y.) rank second, third and fourth on the team in scoring and have combined for 35 games of 10+ points and seven NEC Rookies of the Week, good for the highest total in program history. All three freshmen have at least 11 games of 10+ points after
THREE D
Bryant has held its opponents to 30.6% from three this season - the best mark in the NEC and 66th nationally. The perimeter defense has helped the Bulldogs to a 45.8% effective field goal defense against D1 opponents, which leads the league and ranks 38th in the nation.
40-MINUTE GAME
The Bulldogs have delivered in the entertainment factor in head coach Jared Grasso's first two seasons at Bryant.
Seven games this season have come down to a final possession of regulation in which a team tied or trailing had an opportunity to win the game. In all seven contests, the game-winning shot did not fall.
Twelve of Bryant's games have been decided by five points or less.
Bryant has won despite trailing at halftime nine times in Coach Grasso's first two seasons, including this season's victories over Columbia, Fordham, Saint Francis U and Merrimack.
UP NEXT: SACRED HEART
Bryant hosts Sacred Heart for Senior Day on Sunday. The 1 p.m. tip can be seen on YurView New England and NEC Front Row. Tickets are available by clicking HERE.
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