Men's Basketball back at the Chace Thursday, hosts Maine

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's basketball team begins a crucial stretch of games on Thursday night when it hosts the University of Maine at the Chace Athletic Center. Tip is set for 7:00 p.m.

Starting Thursday, Bryant will play four of its final six regular season games at the Chace. Tickets are available by clicking here.

The Particulars
Opponent: Maine
Location: Chace Athletic Center (Smithfield, R.I.)
Date and Time: Thursday, Feb. 15 - 7:00 PM EST 
Live Stats: Presto
Tickets: Buy Now
Watch: ESPN+
Game Notes: Bryant | Maine
Social Media: Facebook | X | Instagram | #AEMBB

THE SERIES
Bryant and Maine are meeting for the second time in 12 days. The home team has won all three of the meetings between the programs, with the Black Bears earning a 79-72 victory in Orono on Feb. 3. Bryant led by as many as 13 points in the first half of that game but the Black Bears opened the second half with a 12-0 run to take the lead and then hung on for victory.            

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Bryant enters Thursday ranked third nationally with 6.4 blocks per game and 9th nationally in field goal percentage defense (39.0 percent). Individually, Daniel Rivera ranks 12th nationally in blocks per game, Earl Timberlake is 10th nationally in field goal percentage and Sherif Gross-Bullock is 18th in three-point field goals per game.

AROUND THE AMERICA EAST
Vermont enters the week leading the America East with a 9-1 record. Bryant sits in second at 8-2, while UMass Lowell is in third at 7-3. New Hampshire currently holds the No. 4 spot at 6-4. The final five spots in the standings are separated by a total of two games. Maine and UAlbany are both 3-6, Binghamton and NJIT are both 3-7 and UMBC is 2-8.

• There are currently five players averaging 20.0+ ppg in league play. The last time multiple players averaged over 20.0 ppg in a season was in 2016-17.    

GOOD GRIEF, REEF
Sherif Gross-Bullock posted his 11th 20-point game of the season last Thursday against New Hampshire, second-most in the America East. SGB also has a pair of 30+ point games, going for 41 and 35 against UMBC. He now has four games of 35+ points in his career, one shy of Peter Kiss' record of five. 

FIVE MORE THINGS TO KNOW

1. SGB enters Thursday ranked second in the league in scoring with 19.3 ppg, while ranking second in America East scoring with 21.6 ppg. He has scored 20+ points in six of the 10 league games this season, including a game-high 28 last Thursday vs New Hampshire.  
2. Timberlake is coming off his third-straight 20-point performance, posting 21 points and 8 rebounds at Binghamton. He is averaging 18.3 ppg, 10.0 rpg and 4.3 apg over his last four. On the year, Timberlake is averaging 14.7 ppg, 9.1 rpg and 4.3 apg.    
3. Daniel Rivera is averaging 13.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg and 2.7 bpg in league play.     
4. Tyler Brelsford enjoyed a breakout performance at Binghamton, posting 14 points. He was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Brelsford is averaging a career-best 6.6 ppg this season. 
5. Rafael Pinzon scored all 10 of his points in the second half on Saturday at Binghamton. He is averaging 12.1 ppg on the season.                                 

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