BRYANT RETURNS TO THE CHACE CENTER RIDING A THREE-GAME WINNING STREAK; BATTLE WAGNER THURSDAY NIGHT
February 11, 2009
BRYANT RETURNS TO THE CHACE CENTER RIDING A THREE-GAME WINNING STREAK; BATTLE WAGNER THURSDAY NIGHT
UPDATE
The Bryant University men's basketball team returns to the
Chace Center Thursday night on a three-game winning streak as they
take on the Seahawks of Wagner College. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. This is
the first all-time meeting between the two programs. The Bulldogs
have been rolling lately, having won five of their last seven games
thanks largely in-part to the play of Cecil Gresham and Adam
Parzych, as they are coming off a weekend sweep of Monmouth and
Quinnipiac. Gresham poured in a season-high 27 points in a win at
Monmouth while Parzych continued his hot streak, dropping in 19
points as Bryant defeated Quinnipiac, 72-68, for the second time
this season. Junior forward Nick Pontes tied a career-high with 21
points while grabbing five rebounds to pace the Bryant attack that
topped the 70-point plateau for the second-straight contest. The
Bulldogs finished the four-game road trip with a 3-1 record. Bryant
is 3-4 at home this season, having defeated Yale, Fairleigh
Dickinson and Long Island. Gresham leads the Bulldogs with 13.0 ppg
and 4.3 rebounds per game this season and is first on the team with
47 three-pointers. Parzych is averaging 15.2 points per game in the
last five games and has attempted 34 free throws during that
stretch, making 28.
THE WAGNER SEAHAWKS
Wagner makes its first trip to the Chace Athletic Center
Thursday evening for a matchup with the Bulldogs. The
Seahawks snapped a six-game losing streak on Saturday with a 75-58
win over Saint Francis (PA) on Staten Island. Freshman guard
Chris Martin scored a career-high 20 points on 6 of 8 shooting from
three-point range. Guard Justin Drummond added his first
career double-double as the fifth-year senior scored 10 points and
grabbed 10 rebounds in the win. For his efforts, Martin was
named the Northeast Conference Co-Rookie of the Week after adding
eight points and three steals in a loss at Fairleigh Dickinson
Thursday. Jamal Smith leads four players averaging double
figures in scoring with 12.8 ppg and 5.2 rebounds per game. The
Seahawks are averaging 67 ppg and 6.7 three-point field goals made
per game this year. Head coach Mike Deane is currently in his
sixth season at Wagner having previously coached at Oswego, Siena,
Marquette and Lamar during his 25 year career. He entered the
season ranked 24th among active NCAA coaches with 416 .
BULLDOGS WIN THIRD-STRIAGHT
Junior forward Nick Pontes and sophomore guard Adam
Parzych combined for 30 fo the Bulldogs' 40 second half points as
Bryant got an impressive, 72-68, road victory over Quinnipiac on
Saturday. Pontes tied a career-high with 21 points while Parzych
came off the bench to score 19, 17 coming in the second half.
Bryant led by as many as eight in the contest, but the Bobcats
continued to fight back and pulled to within two with just 47
seconds remaining in the game when Andrew Lyell stepped up to the
line and drained two clutch free-throws to seal the win with 16
seconds left. Bryant shot a season-best 55.3 percent from the field
and 60 percent (9-for-15) from three to help them to their
third-straight win, all coming on the road.
BRYANT AND WAGNER
This is the first meeting all-time between the Bulldogs
and the Seahawks.
ON SECOND THOUGHT
The Bulldogs have proven to be a second half team this
season, averaging 8.1 points more per game in the second half than
the first half this season, scoring 32.2 points while shooting 41.4
percent from the floor and 34.3 percent from three point land. In
the first half, Bryant has had its struggles, shooting at a clip of
36.5 percent from the floor and just 30 percent from behind the arc
while averaging 23.8 points. The Bulldogs have gone into the locker
room with double-digit deficits 16 times this season. Bryant has
also minimized the rebounding differential in the second half,
going from a -5.1 differential in the first half to -2.4 in the
second half. Bryant has outscored or tied its opponents in nine of
the last 11 games in the second half, including beating Yale 50-24,
Cornell 28-26, Sacred Heart 41-32, Fairleigh Dickinson 31-19, NJIT
36-30, Saint Francis (PA) 45-30, Monmouth 42-37 and Quinnipiac
40-35, while tying Brown 31-31. Last time out, Bryant scored 40
second half points against Quinnipiac while shooting a season-best
61.9 percent from the field and going a perfect 3-for-3 from behind
the arc.
BRYANT VS THE NEC
The Bulldogs, who will become full members of the
Northeast Conference in the 2012-2013 season, have posted a 6-4
record against NEC opponents, which would be good for fourth place
in the conference based on their winning-percentage of .600 if
Bryant qualified. The squad has defeated Quinnipiac twice
(59-50 and 72-68), Fairleigh Dickinson (56-43), Long Island
(57-55), Saint Francis, Pa. (65-60) and Monmouth (83-71), while
falling to Mount St. Mary's (68-44), Sacred Heart (73-64), Long
Island (76-61) and Robert Morris (72-47). The team has averaged
60.8 points per game, shooting 41.7 percent from the floor against
the conference. Against non-NEC opponents, Bryant has allowed 69.9
points and 46.9 percent shooting while scoring 53.2 points on 37.1
percent from the floor.
ON A ROLL
Bryant has averaged 73.3 points per game in its recent
three-game winning streak that has included victories over Saint
Francis (PA), Monmouth and Quinnipiac. In that stretch, the team
has shot 48 percent from the floor and 40.9 percent from downtown.
Four different players are averaging double figures with Adam
Parzych leading the way with 19 points per game. Behind him is
Cecil Gresham at 14 points, followed by Pete Lambert with 13.7 and
Nick Pontes with 13. Three different players have led the team in
scoring in each of the three wins, as Lambert scored 22 against
Saint Francis (PA), Gresham had 27 against Monmouth and Pontes put
in 21 against Quinnipiac. The Bulldogs have won five of their last
seven, averaging 61.6 points per game while surrendering just 61.4
points and outrebounding opponents 31.9 to 31.4.
LONG RANGE LAMBERT
Senior guard Pete Lambert (Cumberland, R.I. /
Cumberland) has made 46 three's this season, putting him
second on the team while attempting a team-high 139 on the year,
good for a 33.1 percent shooting percentage. Lambert has hit six
three's on three different occasions this year, going 6-for-8
against Long Island, 6-for-10 against NJIT and 6-for-17 against
Saint Francis, PA. The 17 three-point attempts were the second most
ever by a Bulldog in a single game. The senior was 12-for-21 from
downtown in a three-game stretch in January, scoring 16 against
Yale, 18 versus LIU and 11 at Brown. He has hit for 20+
points two times, putting in 21 against NJIT and 22 at Saint
Francis while leading the team in scoring on four different
occasions.
THREE'S COMPANY
The Bulldogs have attempted 514 three pointers this
season, which would rank them second among teams in the Northeast
Conference behind St. Francis (NY) who has put up 565. Bryant has
shown itself to be an outside shooting team over the past six
seasons, including taking 662 shots from behind the arc last
season, with the all-time record coming back in the 2005-2006
season when the team rifled 756 shots from three point land. Three
different players on this year's team have had more than half of
their field goal attempts come from downtown in Cecil Gresham (131
of 260), Pete Lambert (139 of 152) and Chris Birrell (96 of 130).
The Bulldogs have connected on 166 three's, shooting 32.3 percent
overall on the season.
HOME SWEET HOME
Bryant has shot 41.6 percent from the floor and 31.2
percent from behind the arc in its seven home games this season,
winning three of those, compared to just a field goal percentage of
37.4 percent and 32 percent three-point shooting on the road. The
Bulldogs have also done a better job on the boards at home, getting
outrebounded 32.3 to 30.1 at home while the margin climbs to 37.8
to 28.3 on the road. Overall, the team has been outscored 70.7 to
55.4 on the road but just 61.9 to 58.1 at home.
RISING UP THE CHARTS
Cecil Gresham moved up to sixth all-time in career made
three-pointers after hitting two at Long Island on Jan. 7, giving
him 103 for his career, passing Cullen McCarthy. The junior is now
just one away from fifth all time behind John Wallace who has 119.
Pete Lambert moved up to seventh all-time after hitting six against
Saint Francis (PA) on Jan. 31. He has 110 for his career.
ON PAR
Sophomore guard Adam Parzych (Lindenhurst, N.Y. /
Lindenhurst) has been a big reason for the Bulldogs'
recent success. He recorded career-highs in points in three of his
last five games, scoring 12 points against LIU followed by a 17
point performance against Saint Francis (PA) and registering 21 at
Monmouth. Last time out at Quinnipiac, the sophomore scored 17 of
his 19 points in the second half. The Bulldogs are 4-2 when Parzych
plays 20+ minutes, with the only two losses coming at Boston
College and at Robert Morris. He has done a great job going to the
hoop, attempting 34 free-throws over the last five games,
converting on 28. Parzych is averaging a team-best 19 points per
game to go along with 2.7 rebounds during the three game winning
streak, and 15.2 points per game over the last five.
PONTES AND CIRCUMSTANCE
Junior Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass. / New
Bedford) had a seven game double-figure streak snapped
against NJIT on Jan. 21 as he was limited to eight points. During
his seven game double figure streak, the junior led the team with
13.9 points per game and 4.3 rebounds. After scoring 12 in a loss
to Mount St. Mary's, Pontes scored 15 second half points against
Yale to help lead the Bulldogs to a comeback win. He followed that
with 10 against LIU, a game-high 18 against Brown, a team-high 13
against Cornell and 11 against Sacred Heart. In the team's victory
over Fairleigh Dickinson, the junior scored a game-high 18 points,
13 in the first half, while grabbing seven rebounds. He tied a
career-high with 21 points last time out at Quinnipiac and is
averaging 13 points per game during the Bulldog three game win
streak.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs play their second of a four-game home stretch
as they take on Central Connecticut in a Valentine's Day matchup on
Saturday (3:30 p.m.).