MEN’S BASKETBALL HOSTS ST. FRANCIS (NY) THURSDAY NIGHT IN FINAL HOME GAME OF THE SEASON; WILL HONOR FOUR SENIORS IN PREGAME CEREMONY
February 18, 2009
MEN'S BASKETBALL HOSTS ST. FRANCIS (NY) THURSDAY NIGHT IN FINAL HOME GAME OF THE SEASON; WILL HONOR FOUR SENIORS IN PREGAME CEREMONY
UPDATE
The Bulldogs play their final home game on the 2008-09
season as they host St. Francis (NY) tonight at the Chace Center.
Tipoff is at 7 p.m. This is the first meeting between the two
programs. Bryant will honor senior captains Ryan McLean, Peter
Lambert, Andrew Lyell and Jerrann Wright in a pregame ceremony. The
senior class enters tonight having won 68 games in four seasons,
including three trips to the NCAA tournament. They have played in a
combined 413 games together for the black and gold, with Lyell
playing his 100th game this evening. The Bulldogs bounced back
after losing back-to-back games, as they cruised past NJIT, 70-46,
on Tuesday, avenging an earlier season loss to the Highlanders in
Newark. Leading scorer and rebounder Cecil Gresham is
averaging 13.3 points per game and 4.6 rebounds after posting his
first double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 boards.
Point guard Chris Birrell controlled the offense, putting up 12
points, seven rebounds and five assists while Adam Parzych
registered a career-high with six assists. Lambert enters the
contest tied for sixth all-time with Jon Wallace in career made
three point field goals with 116, knocking down 55 this season.
ST. FRANCIS (NY) TERRIERS
St. Francis (NY) and Bryant meet for the first time ever
this evening as the Bulldogs close out the home schedule for
2008-09. St. Francis (NY) is currently seventh in the
NEC conference standings at 7-8 (9-16 overall). Winners of
three of their last five, the Terriers are coming off an 82-72 win
over Fairleigh Dickinson in Brooklyn, NY Saturday as Ricky Cadell
poured in 26 points on 8 of 14 shooting from the floor and Stefan
Perunicic added 16 points on 4 of 9 shooting from three-point
range. SFC shot 52 percent from the floor in the game
including 15-for-26 (58 percent) in the first half. The Terriers
made 19 of 25 free throws and turned the ball over just nine times.
St. Francis coach Brian Nash is in his fourth season with the
Terriers and was previously on Louis Orr's staff at Seton Hall for
four seasons. He also coached at Siena, Sacred Heard and St.
Bonaventure as an assistant. Cadell is currently 10th in the
NEC in scoring while Womack is tied for sixth with 107
assistS. Perunicic's 79 made three-point field goals leads the NEC
Conference. Assistant coach Allen Griffin was an assistant coach
for Tim Welsh at Providence College along with Bryant assistant
Kevin Kurbec.
BULLDOGS ROUT NJIT
Bryant held the Highlanders to 46 points, the
second-lowest point total for an opponent this season, as the
Bulldogs topped NJIT, 70-46, at the Chace Center on Tuesday night.
Cecil Gresham posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds
to pace a balance offensive attack. Jerrann Wright and Chris
Birrell also registered double figures with 13 and 12 points
respectively. Birrell pulled down seven rebounds in the game and
handed out 5 assists, as Bryant dished out 20 helpers on 25 field
goals. Sophomore Adam Parzych set a career-high with six assists to
lead the way. Bryant led by as many as 32 in the game, using a 12-3
run at the end of the second half to pull away from the Highlanders
and take a 16-point halftime lead. A big 16-3 second half run put
the game out of reach, as Bryant shot 52.6 percent (10-for-19) from
long range.
BRYANT HONORS FOUR SENIORS
The Bulldogs and the Bryant athletic department will honor
senior captains Ryan McLean, Peter Lambert, Andrew Lyell and
Jerrann Wright prior to tonight's game. The four have helped Bryant
win 68 games in four years including three-straight trips to the
Division II NCAA Tournament.
BRYANT AND ST. FRANCIS
This is the first all-time meeting between the Bulldogs
and the Terriers.
ON SECOND THOUGHT
The Bulldogs have proven to be a second half team this
season, averaging 6.8 points more per game in the second half than
the first half this season, scoring 32 points while shooting 40.7
percent from the floor and 35.2 percent from three point land. In
the first half, Bryant has had its struggles, shooting at a clip of
37.8 percent from the floor and just 31.8 percent from behind the
arc while averaging 24.8 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 -4.6 differential in the first half to -2.4 in the
second half. Bryant has outscored or tied its opponents in ten of
the last 14 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 five-points (398-393) in the second half
against Northeast Conference opponents, but were beaten, 32-28, in
the second frame in their last NEC game against CCSU.
BRYANT VS THE NEC
The Bulldogs, who will become full members of the
Northeast Conference in the 2012-2013 season, have posted a 6-6
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)
and Central Connecticut (65-61). The team has averaged 60.8 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 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) is
averaging 12 points and 5.5 rebounds over the last two games,
including scoring 11 points in the second half against Central
Connecticut 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 90 on the year.
LONG RANGE LAMBERT
Senior guard Pete Lambert (Cumberland, R.I. / Cumberland)
has made 55 threes this season, putting tying him for first on the
team with Cecil Gresham while attempting a team-high 162 on the
year, good for 34 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 tied for sixth
all-time at Bryant with 119 career made three point field goals,
and has taken 355 or his 388 total field goal attempts from behind
the arc, accounting for 91.5 % of his shots.
THREE'S COMPANY
The Bulldogs have attempted 581 three pointers this
season, which would rank them second among teams in the Northeast
Conference behind St. Francis (NY) who has put up 607. 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 (149
of 295), Pete Lambert (162 of 176) and Chris Birrell (106 of 150).
The Bulldogs have connected on 195 three's, shooting 33.6 percent
overall on the season.
HOME SWEET HOME
Bryant has shot 41.5 percent from the floor and 5.1
percent from behind the arc in its nine home games this season,
posting a 4-6 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 31 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 61.6 to 59.8 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 116 for his career and trails
Wallace by three 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 found the scoring touch in Bryant's three-game road win
streak, registering 17 points against Saint Francis (PA), a
career-high 21 at Monmouth and 19 against Quinnipiac (17 in the
second half), good for a 19 ppg average during the stretch. Parzych
scored 17 points, all coming in the first half including
14-straight to start the game in a home loss to Wagner. The
Bulldogs are 5-4 when Parzych plays 20+ minutes, with the four
losses coming at Boston College, at Robert Morris, versus Wagner
and versus Central Connecticut. He has done a great job going to
the hoop, attempting 40 free-throws over the last five games,
converting on 32 (80 percent free-throw percentage). Parzych is
averaging a13.3 points per game to go along with 2.1 rebounds over
the last eight games.
UP NEXT
Bryant wraps-up its inaugural Division I season as they
travel to play Sacred Heart on Saturday, Feb 28 (4 pm). The
Pioneers beat the Bulldogs, 73-64, earlier this season at the Chace
Center.