Men's Basketball Loses to Saint Michael's 74-68
BRYANT MEN'S BASKETBALL
February 14, 2007
Bryant Men's Hoops Loses to St. Michael's 74-68
COLCHESTER, VT - The Bryant men's basketball team struggled offensively as they were defeated by Saint Michael's 74-68 Wednesday night in a Northeast-10 Conference game.
Bryant falls into fifth place in the Northeast-10 and has lost three of their last four conference games.
After foul trouble limited Jon Ezeokoli (South Orange, NJ) to only eight first-half minutes, the junior forward sank five field-goals in the first five minutes of the second half. He finished with 17 points, 15 in the second half.
With the exception of Ezeokoli, the Bulldogs struggled from the field in the second half. Ezeokoli made all but two of Bryant's buckets in the first 16 minutes of the final half until Dan Hammond (Brunswick, ME) converted a lay-in to cut the lead to 66-60 with 3:12 to play.
A three by Chris Burns (Merrimack, NH) the Purple Knights' lead to three and Hammond followed with two free throws to cut the lead to one. But Brendan Mullins came right back with a three to increase Saint Michael's lead to 69-65.
With 23.7 seconds left, Orlando Baeza (Palmdale, CA) drove to the hoop, nailed the lay-up and was fouled. He converted the free throw to cut the lead to one. James Sorrentine then sunk two free throws, including his 100th career point, leaving Bryant with the last shot down by three with 13 seconds remaining.
But Baeza's pass to Ezeokoli was intercepted and the Purple Knights put the game away.
Bryant took a 35-34 halftime lead behind ten points from Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, CT).
Due to the blizzard in the Northeast, this was the only scheduled game actually played in the Northeast-10 Conference Wednesday night.
Earlier Wednesday, the most recent regional rankings were released with Bryant ranked fourth in the Northeast Region. The top eight teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Bryant (16-9, 12-8 NE-10) closes out its three-game road trip at Southern Connecticut Saturday at 1:30 p.m.