MEN’S BASKETBALL FACES-OFF WITH CENTRAL CONNECTICUT SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT THE CHACE CENTER
February 13, 2009
MEN'S BASKETBALL FACES-OFF WITH CENTRAL CONNECTICUT SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT THE CHACE CENTER
UPDATE
Bryant looks to rebound from Thursday's 72-60 loss to
Wagner when the Bulldogs host Central Connecticut at the Chace
Athletic Center Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. This will be the
14th meeting between the Bulldogs and Blue Devils and the first
since the 1987-88 season when CCSU won 75-68 in New Britain,
CT. Central Connecticut leads the series 7-6. The Bulldogs
dropped a 72-60 decision to Wagner Thursday evening and fell for
the first time this season after leading at the half. Bryant
entered the game 4-0 on the season when leading at the break, but a
stingy Wagner defense helped turn the tide for the Seahawks who got
a game-high 20 points from Joey Mundweiler (6-of-18 from
three-point range). Bryant's Adam Parzych was red-hot in the
first half, scoring Bryant's first 14 points and finished the game
with 17 on 4 of 6 shooting from beyond the arc. Cecil Gresham
had 19 points and seven rebounds as the Bulldogs shot just 39
percent from the floor in the game. Gresham leads the team in
scoring and rebounding, averaging 13.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per
game, while hitting a team-best 50 three's on 140 tries. He
currently ranks fifth all-time at Bryant with 121 career made three
point field goals.
THE CENTRAL CONNECTICUT BLUE DEVILS
Central Connecticut enters Saturday's game looking to snap
a two-game losing skid. After falling to Robert Morris last
Saturday, the Blue Devils dropped an 80-73 decision to Fairleigh
Dickinson Thursday night at home. Freshman Robby Ptacek
matched a season-high with 20 points while senior Marcus Palmer and
Shemik Thompson added 12 and 11 points respectively. FDU
scored 19 first half baskets in taking a 46-38 lead into the locker
room at the break, but CCSU used a 10-1 run to open the second half
to regain the lead, 65-64 with under four minutes left. Ken Horton
leads the NEC this season in scoring with a 17.0 ppg average
entering today's game. The sophomore forward Horton is
shooting 51.2 percent from the floor this season and stands 11th in
the conference in rebounding 6.0 rpg. Guard Shemik Thompson, second
on the team with 11.6 ppg and leads the NEC with 5.36 assists per
game (118 total). Robby Ptacek leads the conference in free
throw percentage this season, making 57 of 63 from the charity
stripe (90.5 percent). Central Connecticut won NEC titles in 2000,
2002 and 2007 earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA
tournament.
SEAHAWKS END BRYANT'S WIN STREAK
Wagner connected on a season-high 12 three's while
attempting 32, as they halted Bryant's three-game win streak with
a, 72-60, win at the Chace Center Thursday night. Joey Mundweiler
was 6-for-18 from downtown on his way to a game-high 20 points to
pace the Seahawk offense. Adam Parzych scored all 17 of his points
in the first half, including 14-straight to start the game, while
Cecil Gresham notched his 17th contest in double figure, putting in
a team-high 19. The Bulldogs led by one with 9:32 to go, but Wagner
scored 19 of the game's final 25 points to take home a 12-point
victory.
BRYANT AND CENTRAL CONNECTICUT
This will be the 14th meeting between the Bulldogs and
Blue Devils and the first since the 1987-88 season when CCSU won
75-68 in New Britain, CT. Central Connecticut leads the
series 7-6.
ON SECOND THOUGHT
The Bulldogs have proven to be a second half team this
season, averaging 7.5 points more per game in the second half than
the first half this season, scoring 32 points while shooting 41.1
percent from the floor and 34.4 percent from three point land. In
the first half, Bryant has had its struggles, shooting at a clip of
36.7 percent from the floor and just 30.5 percent from behind the
arc while averaging 24.5 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 differential in the first half to -2.6 in the
second half. Bryant has outscored or tied its opponents in nine of
the last 12 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. The Bulldogs have only been
outscored by one-point (366-365) in the second half against
Northeast Conference opponents, but were beaten, 41-27, in the
second frame last time out against Wagner.
BRYANT VS THE NEC
The Bulldogs, who will become full members of the
Northeast Conference in the 2012-2013 season, have posted a 6-5
record against NEC opponents, which would be good for fifth place
in the conference based on their winning-percentage of .545 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), Robert Morris (72-47) and Wagner (72-60). The team
has averaged 60.7 points per game, shooting 41.4 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.
ROAD WARRIORS
Prior to the loss to Wagner, the Bulldogs went on a
three-game road winning streak, all coming against NEC opponents.
During the three-game stretch, the Bulldogs averaged 73.3 points
per game while grabbing victories over Saint Francis (PA), Monmouth
and Quinnipiac. The team shot 48 percent from the floor and 40.9
percent from downtown in that period. Four different players
averaged double figure0s, with Adam Parzych leading the way scoring
19 points per game off the bench, followed by Cecil Gresham with 14
points, Pete Lambert with 13.7 and Nick Pontes with 13. Three
different players 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. Bryant
is 3-3 on the road against Northeast Conference opponents this
season.
LONG RANGE LAMBERT
Senior guard Pete Lambert (Cumberland, R.I. / Cumberland)
has made 49 three's this season, putting him second on the team
while attempting a team-high 147 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. He currently ranks seventh
all-time at Bryant with 113 career made three-point field goals.
THREE'S COMPANY
The Bulldogs have attempted 541 three pointers this
season, which would rank them second among teams in the Northeast
Conference behind St. Francis (NY) who has put up 585. 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 (140
of 276), Pete Lambert (147 of 160) and Chris Birrell (98 of 132).
The Bulldogs have connected on 176 three's, shooting 32.5 percent
overall on the season.
HOME SWEET HOME
Bryant has shot 41.3 percent from the floor and 32.1
percent from behind the arc in its eight home games this season,
posting a 4-4 record, compared to 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 33.5 to 30.3 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 63.1 to 58.4 at home.
RISING UP THE CHARTS
Cecil Gresham moved up to fifth all-time in career made
three-pointers after hitting three from downtown last time out
against Wagner, giving him 121 for his career, passing Jon Wallace.
Pete Lambert moved up to seventh all-time after hitting six against
Saint Francis (PA) on Jan. 31. He has 113 for his career and trails
Wallace by six for sixth all-time.
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
six games, scoring 12 points against LIU followed by a 17 point
performance against Saint Francis (PA) and registering 21 at
Monmouth. He scored 19 points in a win at Quinnipiac, with 17
coming in the second half. Last time out, Parzych scored 17 points,
all coming in the first half including 14-straight to start the
game. The Bulldogs are 4-3 when Parzych plays 20+ minutes, with the
three losses coming at Boston College, at Robert Morris and versus
Wagner. He has done a great job going to the hoop, attempting 38
free-throws over the last five games, converting on 31 (.818
free-throw percentage). Parzych is averaging a team-best 15.5
points per game to go along with 2.2 rebounds over the last six
games.
PONTES AND CIRCUMSTANCE
Junior Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass. / New Bedford) had
a seven-game double figure streak snapped against NJIT on Jan. 21.
During his seven game 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 at Quinnipiac on Feb. 7 and is averaging
10.3 points per game over the last four.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs look for revenge against NJIT as they battle
the Highlanders on Tuesday night at the Chace Center (7 p.m.).