Bryant hosts SHU in Senior Day clash; game to air on YurView
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's basketball team looks for its first three-game winning streak in NEC play since 2017 when Sacred Heart visits Smithfield on Senior Day in a game aired locally on YurView New England.
The Bulldogs, who have their best overall record through 28 games since 2014-15, aim to complete a 3-0 week after a win over first-place Merrimack and the program's first victory at St. Francis Brooklyn.
The Particulars
Opponent: Sacred Heart
Location: Chace Athletic Center (Smithfield, R.I.)
Date and Time: Sunday, Feb. 23 – 1 p.m.
Tickets: Sunday
Watch: YurView New England/NEC Front Row (Jon Wallach, Frankie Dobbs)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #12Seven4 | #NECMBB
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Sacred Heart enters Sunday as the No. 3 seed if the NEC tournament began this weekend. The Pioneers are 9-6 in the league after falling at Merrimack Friday evening.
EJ Anosike is one of two NEC players averaging a double-double, as the junior ranks seventh in the league in scoring (15.5) and first in rebounding (11.4). Koreem Ozier has added 14.3 points per game for the Pioneers, who are 6-3 in their last nine games. Jare'l Spellman is second in the NEC in blocks per game behind the Bulldogs' Hall Elisias (Valley Stream, N.Y.).
THE SERIES
The Pioneers are 26-14 all-time and 18-6 in Division I games against the Bulldogs. Sacred Heart has won four straight in the series.
Sacred Heart defeated Bryant 74-65 on Feb. 13 in a game that the Bulldogs led by as many as 12 points in the second half. Freshman Michael Green III (Bronx, N.Y.) scored 22 points in the contest.
Bryant's last win over Sacred Heart in Smithfield was in the 2015 NEC quarterfinals - a game that featured Joe O'Shea's three-pointer to force overtime before a 91-85 Bulldog victory.
LAST TIME OUT: BRYANT 82, ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN 74
Bryant outscored St. Francis Brooklyn 18-5 in the final 4:09 to capture the Bulldogs' first victory in program history at the Pope Center Friday night. Green scored a career-high 23 points and senior Juan Cardenas (Apartado, Colombia) added 22 points and nine rebounds.
RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF PROGRESS
Bryant's 14 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.
GOING GREEN
Green is averaging 18.8 points per game over his last four with two games of 20-plus points. All 23 of Green's career high in scoring Friday night came from inside the three-point arc.
Green has averaged 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists during the four-game stretch and won NEC Rookie of the Week for the first time Monday.
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 12.2 points per game over his last 11 contests with five games of 10-plus points and three of 20 or more.
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 Green, Benson Lin (New Taipei City, Taiwan), and Charles Pride (Syracuse, N.Y.) rank second, third and fourth on the team in scoring and have combined for 37 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.
AG RISING IN THE RECORD BOOK
Senior Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) broke Dyami Starks' Division I career record of 281 three-pointers in the Feb. 8 win over Central Connecticut. Grant's two three-pointers Friday gave him 288 to move within seven of Jason Bennett for second on Bryant's all-time list and 40 back of John Williams' career mark of 323.
The senior ranks second in career minutes played at 4,122, 19 back of Alex Francis (4,141) for the most in Bryant's D1 history.
Grant, who stands second in Bryant's D1 history with 1,755 points, scored in double figures for the 85th time in his career Friday, moving within one of Starks for the second most occurrences.
THREE D
Bryant has held its opponents to 30.7% from three this season - the best mark in the NEC and 72nd nationally. The perimeter defense has helped the Bulldogs to a 45.9% effective field goal defense against D1 opponents, which leads the league and ranks 41st in the nation.
HEART OF GLASS
Bryant had zero games of 50 or more rebounds through the Bulldogs' first 340 Division I contests, never reaching more than 46 after 11 seasons and three games.
The Bulldogs have rewritten that column of the record book this year, with the seven highest single-game rebounding totals of the program's D1 era. Bryant has hauled in its four highest rebounding numbers against NEC opponents in the month of February.
Bryant's 19 offensive rebounds vs. Central Connecticut were the third-highest total in the program's Division I history against a D1 opponent.
FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE
The Bulldogs are 3-0 on Friday this season after the win at St. Francis Brooklyn. Bryant is 4-1 on the final day of the work week under Coach Grasso, who enjoyed a 51-14 record on Fridays during his eight seasons on the staff at Iona.
UP NEXT: FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
Bryant opens the final week of the regular season with a Thursday contest in New Jersey against Fairleigh Dickinson. The Bulldogs, who look for their first victory in Hackensack since 2016, will tip off against the Knights at 7 p.m. on NEC Front Row.
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