Bryant hosts Maine in America East Quarterfinals

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The third-seeded Bryant men's basketball team hosts sixth-seeded Maine in the quarterfinal round of the 2024 Jersey Mike's America East Men's Basketball Playoffs on Saturday afternoon at the Chace Athletic Center. Tip is set for 2:00 p.m.

The Particulars
Opponent: No. 6 Maine
Location: Chace Athletic Center (Smithfield, R.I.)
Date and Time: Saturday, Mar. 9 - 2:00 PM EST 
Live Stats: Presto
Watch: ESPN+
Game Notes: Bryant | Maine
Social Media: Facebook | X | Instagram | #AEMBB

THE SERIES
Bryant and Maine split their regular season series, with each team winning at home. Bryant earned a 77-72 victory the last time out, while Maine won 79-72 in Orono. Earl Timberlake paced Bryant with a pair of 20-point efforts against the Black Bears. The two programs have split four all-time meetings, with the home team winning all four.             

PLAYOFF TIME AT THE CHACE

• Saturday marks Bryant's first home America East playoff game. The Bulldogs hosted eight home playoff games as members of the Northeast Conference, going 5-3. 
• The last time Bryant hosted a playoff game was the 2022 NEC Playoffs in which it won three-straight home games to claim its first-ever trip to March Madness.

POSTSEASON HAUL

• Earl Timberlake and Sherif Gross-Bullock were named to the America East First Team on Thursday.
• Both have now earned all-conference honors in each of the last two seasons. Gross-Bullock is a two-time first teamer, while Timberlake earns first team honors after being on the second team last season. 

FIVE MORE THINGS TO KNOW

1. Sherif Gross-Bullock enters the playoffs averaging 18.1 ppg. He scored 20+ points on 13 occasions, including eight of the 16 league contests. 
2. Earl Timberlake finished up the regular season as the first player in the America East since 2010-11 to rank in the top 10 in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals. He is averaging 14.6 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 3.9 apg, 1.3 bpg and 1.3 spg.      
3. Daniel Rivera closed the regular season with three-straight monster games. He recorded double-doubles in all three, going for 29 and 12 at UMass Lowell, 20 and 10 vs NJIT and 19 and 17 vs UAlbany. Rivera is averaging 22.5 ppg, 13.0 rpg and 3.0 apg during the stretch. His 17 rebounds vs UAlbany are a career high and tied for the fourth-most in a game in DI program history.    
4. Rafael Pinzon put together back-to-back solid games to close the regular season, going for 19 against NJIT and 27 against UAlbany. He hit 4-of-8 from three vs the Great Danes on Tuesday.  
5. Miles Latimer started each of the last two games of the regular season. He scored 17 points (his most as a Bulldog) vs NJIT before posting 12 points and a career-high five blocks vs UAlbany.                                   

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