BRYANT LOOKS FOR THIRD-STRAIGHT WIN OVER QUINNIPIAC, FIRST WIN OF SEASON SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT HOME (3:30 P.M.)

January 15, 2010

BRYANT LOOKS FOR THIRD-STRAIGHT WIN OVER QUINNIPIAC, FIRST WIN OF SEASON SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT HOME (3:30 P.M.)

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SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team rounds out its first home conference weekend Saturday when the Bulldogs welcome Northeast Conference rival Quinnipiac University to the Chace Athletic Center. Bryant is still looking for its first win of the 2009-10 campaign, but beat the Bobcats twice last season in its inaugural Division I campaign. Saturday's game can be seen on www.bryantbulldogs.tv and heard live on WOON 1240-AM.

THE HISTORY
Bryant has faced off against the Bobcats more than any other team in the Northeast Conference, as the two programs shared a league for 10 years as members of the Division II Northeast-10 Conference. Quinnipiac, which joined the NE-10 (of which Bryant was a founding member) for the 1987-88 season and stayed in the league until its move up to Division I after the 1996-97 campaign, has met up with the Bulldogs 51 times in the history of the two programs, all but two of those meetings coming at the DII level. The Bobcats own a 16-35 all-time series lead, but are 0-2 against the Bulldogs in tche teams' Division I era, having fallen to Bryant twice last season. On November 22, 2008, the Bulldogs earned the men's basketball program its first-ever Division I win with a 59-50 topping of Quinnipiac at the Columbia Classic. Bryant would earn another victory over the Bobcats at the TD Banknorth Sports Center in Hamden, Conn. on Feb. 7, 2009, edging the home team by a 72-68 margin in front of nearly 2,000 fans.

Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.), Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass.) and Chris Birrell (Scituate, R.I.) each averaged double-figure scoring in the pair of 2008-09 meetings. Pontes tied a career high with his 21-point performance in the February matchup, while Adam Parzych (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) chipped in 19 and Birrell posted 12 points with two blocks and perfect 4-for-4 shooting. In the teams' first meeting of last season, it was Gresham who would pour in a game-best 21 points off 7-of-8 shooting from the field while Birrell added 10 points to compliment a game-high six assists and a block. As a team, the Bulldogs shot 52.2 percent against the Bobcats last season, also converting on 48.6 percent from long range, while holding Quinnipiac to just a 39.6 percent clip from the floor in two contests.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Quinnipiac comes to Smithfield riding a four-game winning streak and a 10-6 overall record. The Bobcats are second in the conference with a 4-1 record and are led by 18.0 points per game from senior James Feldeine, who is second in the NEC in scoring average. Junior preseason all-conference selection Justin Rutty and sophomore James Johnson compliment Feldeine averaging double-figures themselves with 14.3 and 11.1 points per game, respectively. Johnson's 53 assists, 26 steals, 37.2 percent shooting from 3-point land and 84.1 percent accuracy from the charity stripe are team highs while Rutty averages a league-best 10.4 rebounds per outing. The junior bigman is third in the conference with a team-leading 53.6 shooting percentage while the team as a whole shoots better than 45 percent on the year. The combination of Feldeine, Rutty, Johnson, senior Jeremy Baker (8.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and junior Jonathan Cruz (3.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg) have started all but one contest for the Bobcats in 2009-10. The Bulldogs and the Bobcats matched up against three similar non-conference opponents in Yale, Columbia and Brown, all of which Quinnipiac topped by at least an eight-point margin.

BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
Bryant is 0-5 against its home conference in 2009-10, having played its first official game against the NEC back on December 3, 2009 when the Bulldogs fell to LIU, 62-46. All-time against current Northeast Conference opponents, the Bulldog basketball program is 34-65, having most frequently played former Northeast-10 Conference (DII) members Quinnipiac (16-35). Bryant continues to play its full league slate in 2010 after going 6-8 against the NEC last season, taking wins over Quinnipiac (twice), LIU, Fairleigh Dickinson, Saint Francis (PA) and Monmouth.

LAST TIME OUT
After falling behind by as many as 18 points early in the second half, the Bryant University men's basketball team pulled to within five but couldn't complete the comeback as Sacred Heart defeated the Bulldogs, 72-64, on Thursday night at the Chace Athletic Center.

The Bulldogs were led offensively by senior Adam Parzych (Lindenhurst, N.Y.), who poured in a season-high 16 points and had a career-high seven assists while playing a career-best 37 minutes. It was the third consecutive double-digit night for the senior captain. Freshman Vlad Kondratyev (Nikolayev, Ukraine) was 4-for-6 from the floor for a total of nine points.

The Pioneers are off to their best start at the DI level as they improved to 10-6 on the season and 3-2 in the NEC, and had four players in double figures at the final whistle, including Ryan Litke with a game-high 17 points. Litke also recorded five steals in the win. Jerrell Thompson and Corey Hassan each scored 13 points while Liam Potter added 11 of his own.

Bryant outshot Sacred Heart, 51.1 percent to 45.8 percent in the game, but was outshot 40 percent to 36.8 percent from long range. Thursday's game also marked the first time this season the Bulldogs have shot above 50 percent for the game, despite the loss.

Both Bryant and Sacred Heart shot an even 50 percent from the field in the first half as the Pioneers took a 37-30 lead into the locker room after one period of play. With a 3-point bucket from point guard Chris Birrell (Scituate, R.I.) just 2:02 into the game, Bryant took the early 10-8 lead over the visiting Pioneers. At the halfway point in the first frame, Bryant was shooting 57.1 percent from deep, but cooled down over the last 10 minutes to end the frame at a 40 percent clip from downtown.

With 5:05 remaining in the first and Bryant down eight points, 30-22, junior walk-on Michael Chroney (Nashua, N.H.) provided a spark for the Bulldogs in one of the most electrifying plays of the 2009-10 season. Chroney and Parzych were running the floor in a 2-on-1 situation when Parzych sent an arching pass upcourt to the speedy forward. Chroney, standing at just 6-foot-2, caught the pass, took one step and elevated up and over the 6-foot-9 Mehmet Sahan for a huge and-one dunk. Chroney, unable to convert on the three-point play, made up for it with a layup on the next possession to bring Bryant back to within four, 30-26.

But out of the hafltime break, the Pioneers got off to a hot start, opening the second stanza with a 16-5 run to take a 53-35 lead over the home side with just over 14 minutes remaining in the game. The Bulldogs committed five turnovers during the Sacred Heart run.

Sparked by a Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass.) layup with 13:33 to play, the Bulldogs returned the favor, outscoring the Pioneers, 15-4, over the next 7:28 to bring the score to 57-52 with 6:51 left on the clock. Bryant countered its turnover miscues on the run, forcing five from Sacred Heart over the span. Kondratyev added six points in the Bulldog run before fouling out with 5:11 remaining, but that would be the closest the Bulldogs got to completing the comeback. With 1:43 remaining, Sacred Heart's Jerrell Thompson iced the game with a long-distance three to put the Pioneers up by 10 points, 64-54, en route to the eventual 72-60 victory.

UP NEXT
Bryant returns to the road for a pair of Northeast Conference contests against teams very fresh in the Bulldogs' minds. The Black and Gold will have a rematch against today's opponent, Quinnipiac, in less than a week, traveling to Hamden, Conn. this Thursday (Jan. 21) for a 7:30 p.m. matchup. The Bulldogs will return to The Constitution State two days later - a week from today  - for a rematch against Thursday night's opponent Sacred Heart at 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 23.

ON PAR
Senior captain Adam Parzych has stepped up his productivity since returning to Northeast Conference play on Jan. 7, recording three-straight double-digit scoring performances, each of them upping his previous season best. Parzych collected 10 points against Fairleigh Dickinson on Jan. 7 despite going just 2-for-5 from the field, and followed it with a 14-point outing on 4-of-8 shooting from long range against Monmouth on Jan. 9. The senior went a perfect 6-for-6 from the line against the Knights to make up the difference and would go 8-for-8 from the line on the week. Then on Thursday against Sacred Heart, Parzych put up a new season-high 16 points as the only Bulldog to register double-digit scoring. The guard shot 5-of-10 from the field and 5-for-9 from beyond the arc, all the while also setting a trio of new career highs despite the loss. Parzych dished out seven assists and converted on five 3-pointers against the Pioneers, besting his previous career marks by one in both categories, and saw a career-best 37 minutes of playing time. Parzych leads the team with a .900 free throw percentage (27-30) and is third on the team with 35 assists.

NIFTY FIFTY
The Bulldogs shot 50 percent or better in consecutive halves for the first time this season Thursday night against Sacred Heart, averaging 51.1 percent from the floor on the day. The game marked the sixth time this year Bryant has shot at a better rate than its opponent, but the first in which the Black and Gold have hit the 50 percent mark twice in one game. The Bulldogs have shot 50 percent or better in one half three times in 2009-10, topping out at 55 percent (11-20) in the first frame on the road against Army.