MEN’S BASKETBALL WRAPS-UP INAUGURAL DIVISON I SEASON AT SACRED HEART SATURDAY AFTERNOON
February 27, 2009
MEN'S BASKETBALL WRAPS-UP INAUGURAL DIVISON I SEASON AT SACRED HEART SATURDAY AFTERNOON
UPDATE
The Bulldogs will play their final game of their inaugural
Division I season as they travel to play the Pioneers of Sacred
Heart this afternoon after a nine-day layoff. Tipoff is at 4 p.m.
This is the 18th meeting between the two programs, with Sacred
Heart holding a 9-8 edge in the all-time series after beating the
Bulldogs, 73-64, earlier this season at the Chace Center. Bryant is
looking to bounce back after losing to St. Francis (NY), 82-66, its
last time out on Thursday, February 19 as the Bulldogs celebrated
senior night. The squad is now 3-3 in the month of February and 7-9
since the start of the new year after winning just one time during
the 2008 portion of their schedule. Cecil Gresham paces the team in
both points per game at 13.5 and rebounding, averaging 4.7 per
game. The junior is currently second on the team in three point
field goals with 56, ranking him fifth all-time with 127 for his
career to go along with 874 points. He led the team with 20 points
against St. Francis (NY) while Adam Parzych and Peter Lambert each
added 12. Lambert moved into sixth all-time in made threes for his
career with 123 after knocking in four from downtown in the
contest.
SACRED HEART PIONEERS
The Sacred Heart Pioneers host the
Bulldogs Saturday afternoon in the 18th all-time meeting
between the two programs, as the team plays their final game of the
season before heading into the NEC tournament where they stand
currently as the number three seed. The Pioneers have been rolling,
winning nine of their last 11 contests including four-straight
after squeaking by St. Francis (NY), 76-73, Thursday night. Four
players registered double figures as Joey Henley led the charge
with 19 points, helping Sacred Heart overcome a 12-point deficit to
get the victory. Jerrell Thompson, Ryan Litke and Ryon Howard were
also in double-digits. Henley leads the team in scoring at 15.9
points per game to go with 6.8 rebounds. The pre-season
all-conference selection has led the Pioneers in scoring in seven
of the last 11 games, while ranking seventh in the conference in
scoring and sixth in rebounds. The Sacred Heart offense has been
clicking all season long, scoring 73 points per game to lead the
conference, while their defense is eighth , allowing slightly over
70 points a contest. Head coach Dave Bike is in his 31st year with
the Pioneers, as only Jim Boeheim of Syracuse has spent more time
at one institution. Bike comes into the game with 479 career wins.
BULLDOGS FALL TO ST. FRANCIS (NY)
Stefan Perunicic drained his first seven threes of the
game and finished with a game-high 23 points to lead St. Francis
(NY) past Bryant, 82-66, last Thursday night on senior night at the
Chace Center. The top three point shooting team in the Northeast
Conference went 14-for-24 from the outside in the contest while
shooting 48 percent from the floor in the game. The Bulldogs
struggled to find their stroke from the field in the second half,
going 9-of-33 and finishing at 33.9 percent. Cecil Gresham led the
charge with 20 points for the Bulldogs along with six rebounds.
Peter Lambert and Adam Parzych also reached double figures with 12
points apiece as Lambert hit four threes.
BRYANT AND SACRED HEART
This is the 18th meeting between the Pioneers and
Bulldogs, with Sacred Heart owning a 9-8 advantage following a,
73-64, win over Bryant back on January 17. Preseason all-conference
selection, Joey Henley, scored a game-high 18 points in the
contest, as the Pioneers took control in the first half, shooting
58.6 percent from the floor and grabbing and 18-point lead. Bryant
outscored Sacred Heart, 41-32, in the second half on the back of 17
points from Cecil Gresham. Chris Birrell added 15 while Nick Pontes
had 11 to pace the Bryant offense.
ON SECOND THOUGHT
The Bulldogs have proven to be a second half team this
season, averaging 6.5 points more per game in the second half than
the first half this season, scoring 32 points while shooting 40.1
percent from the floor and 34.1 percent from three point land. In
the first half, Bryant has had its struggles, shooting at a clip of
38 percent from the floor and just 31.9 percent from behind the arc
while averaging 25.5 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 -4.4 differential in the first half to -2.4 in the
second half. Bryant has outscored or tied its opponents in ten of
the last 15 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, Quinnipiac 40-35
and NJIT again 35-27, while tying Brown 31-31. The Bulldogs have
only been outscored by 16-points (441-425) in the second half
against Northeast Conference opponents, but were beaten, 43-32, in
the second frame last time out against St. Francis (NY).
BRYANT VS THE NEC
The Bulldogs, who will become full members of the
Northeast Conference in the 2012-2013 season, have posted a 6-7
record against NEC opponents. 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), Wagner
(72-60), Central Connecticut (65-61) and St. Francis, NY (82-66).
The team has averaged 61.2 points per game, shooting 40.7 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.
ROAD WARRIORS
Prior to a 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 figures, 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.
THE WRIGHT STUFF
Senior center Jerrann Wright (Cincinatti, Ohio / Dater)
averaged 12 points and 5.5 rebounds in two games against Central
Connecticut and NJIT last week, including scoring 11 points in the
second half against CCSU and 13 against NJIT. It was the first pair
of back-to-back double figure games for Wright, who is fourth in
the team in rebounds with 95 on the year.
LONG RANGE LAMBERT
Senior guard Pete Lambert (Cumberland, R.I. / Cumberland)
has made 59 threes this season, putting him for first on the team,
while attempting a team-high 162 on the year, good for 33.9 percent
shooting. 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 is sixth all-time at Bryant with 123 career
made three point field goals, and has taken 367 or his 400 total
field goal attempts from behind the arc, accounting for 91.8
% of his shots.
THREE'S COMPANY
The Bulldogs have attempted 608 three pointers this
season, which would rank them second among teams in the Northeast
Conference behind St. Francis (NY) who has put up 649. 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. Four
different players on this year's team have had more than half of
their field goal attempts come from downtown in Cecil Gresham (155
of 310), Pete Lambert (174 of 188), Sam Leclerc (40 of 65) and
Chris Birrell (111 of 156). The Bulldogs have connected on 201
threes, shooting 33.1 percent overall on the season.
BULLDOGS EARN FIRST DIVISION I WIN
With a 59-50 win over Quinnipiac on Nov. 22 in the
consolation game of the Columbia Classic, Bryant grabbed its first
Division I win in the history of the program.
HOME SWEET HOME
Bryant has shot 40.7 percent from the floor and 33.6
percent from behind the arc in its nine home games this season,
posting a 4-7 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 34 to 31.5 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 63.5 to 50.4 at home.
RISING UP THE CHARTS
Cecil Gresham moved up to fifth all-time in career made
three-pointers after hitting three from downtown against Wagner on
Feb. 12, giving him 121 for his career, passing Jon Wallace. Pete
Lambert moved up to sixth all-time after hitting four against St.
Francis (NY) on Feb. 19. He has 123 for his career and trails
Gresham by four.
2009 IS WINNING TIME
After going 1-11 in November and December, the Bulldogs
turned everything around in the 2009 portion of their schedule,
winning seven games including five against Northeast Conference
opponents with other wins over Yale and NJIT. The team has averaged
61.5 points per game in January and February while shooting 41
percent from the floor and pulling down 30.8 rebounds; a giant
increase from the 52.2 points per game averaged in 2008 and a field
goal percentage of just 36.4.