Posted: Nov 24, 2009

BULLDOGS SET TO HOST INTRASTATE RIVAL BROWN IN 2009-10 HOME OPENER WEDNESDAY (4 P.M.)

November 24, 2009

BULLDOGS SET TO HOST BROWN IN 2009-10 HOME OPENER WEDNESDAY (4 P.M.)

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team will host its 2009-10 home opener Wednesday when the Bulldogs welcome in-state opponent Brown University to the Chace Athletic Center. Tipoff is 4 p.m.

THE PARTICULARS
Bryant faces off against its second in-state opponent of the young 2009-10 season as it welcomes crosstown Brown University to the Chace Athletic Center for a pre-Thanksgiving matchup on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 4 p.m. The Bulldogs are still in search of their first victory of the season and will look to get it in front of the home crowd in Wednesday's 2009-10 home opener.

THE SERIES
The Bulldogs and the Bears have met seven times, dating back to the 1986-87 season, with Brown coming out on top each time. The last time these two teams met was on January 10, 2009, when the Bulldogs suffered a 69-56 setback at the Pizzitola Center. Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass.) scored a game-high 18 points of 9-of-17 shooting, also pacing the team on the glass with three rebounds.

SCOUTING THE BEARS
Brown comes to the Chace Athletic Center off a 75-62 win over the University of Maine at home Sunday, the team's second victory of the season. A trio of Bears scored double-digit points, led by a game-best 24 from Matt Mullery on 9-for-14 shooting. Mullery is one of three returning starters for Brown and one of two returning 2008-09 All-Ivy selections. So far in 2009-10, Mullery and junior Peter Sullivan pace the Bears in scoring, each averaging double digits. Mullery leads the way with 15.8 ppg while Sullivan collects 13.6 ppg. Mullery also leads on the glass, pulling down 5.6 rebounds per outing. On the year, Brown has been outscored by its opponents, 352-331, and is shooting 45.9 percent as a team.

BRYANT vs. THE IVY LEAGUE
Wednesday's game will be the second-consecutive matchup against an Ivy League opponent, coming just five days after Bryant's 77-51 loss to Harvard at Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass. The Bulldogs have faced off against Ivy League opponents five times in their short Division I history, going 1-4 against the conference since the 2008-09 season. In program history, Bryant basketball is just 1-10 against the conference, having taken on Brown most frequently (0-7). Bryant got its only win against the Ancient Eight with a 69-58 topping of Yale on January 2, 2009 at the Chace Athletic Center.

LAST TIME OUT
A strong start against a tough Harvard side allowed the Bryant men's basketball team to take just an eight-point deficit into halftime, but the Bulldogs would struggle in the closing 20 minutes, eventually falling to the Crimson, 77-51, Friday night at Lavietes Pavilion.
The two teams traded leads twice with a trio of ties through the game's first four minutes, while Bryant kept the Crimson within three points for much of the first frame. But midway through the half, the Bulldogs started to slip, falling behind by as many as seven points, 17-10, with 12:46 to play before the break. Six-straight points over the following 1:06 brought Bryant back to within one, where it would stay until the waning minutes of the half.

Then, with 2:29 to play, a Jeremy Lin 3-pointer re-upped Harvard's lead to eight, and while senior captain Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) cut the deficit to five after converting his first trey in four tries, Lin would hit from downtown with the last shot of the frame to send the Crimson into the intermission with an eight-point advantage, 35-27.

But when the Bulldogs needed a quick start to the second half, they couldn't get it, nearly doubling their deficit in the first 4:13 as Harvard outscored Bryant, 10-3, to run the score to 45-30. Gresham would cut the Crimson lead to 13 with the Bulldogs' next shot, but Bryant wouldn't again bring the game within single digits, falling by a 77-51 final.

Bryant gave the ball away 17 times, allowing the Crimson 18 points off giveaways, while the Bulldogs were bullied off the glass in the second half being even at 18-18 after 20 minutes. The Crimson shot lights out in the second frame, hitting 53.3 percent of shots from the floor to the Bulldogs' 28.6 percent shooting

The Bulldogs were led by Gresham's 11 points and game-high eight rebounds and shot 33.9 percent as a team. Senior Chris Birrell (Scituate, R.I.) and freshman Raphael Jordan (Bel Air, Md.) each handed out a team-best three assists, while sophomore Papa Lo (Thies, Senegal) posted the side's only block.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs return to the road for the next four games and will travel to West Point to take on Army on Monday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. Bryant hosted the Black Knights during the 2008-09 season, falling by a 59-48 score despite a game-high 14 points from Cecil Gresham.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
While the Bulldogs have waivered from the field, the Black and Gold have been the Northeast Conference's most consistent team from the free throw line. And while it may still be early, Bryant is solid from the stripe through the season's first four contests, converting 75 percent of all freebie opportunities (30-of-40) to lead the league.

BABY GRAND
Senior Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) returns to the Bulldogs in 2009-10 looking to repeat his star performance from last season. And while last season's numbers were remarkable, this Bulldog has been at the top of the game for his entire Bryant career. Over his three years in Smithfield so far, Gresham has appeared in 94 games, starting in 73 and averages exactly 26 minutes per outing. He has racked up 375 rebounds, 29 blocks, 85 assists and 49 steals, but those numbers are nothing compared to the career benchmark he is fast approaching. Through the first four games of the season, Gresham has 943 points to his name and needs just 57 more to become the 31st 1,000-point scorer in Bryant men's basketball history. Gresham currently sits at No. 31 on the all-time career points list.

So far this season, Gresham paces the Bulldog offense, averaging 14.8 points per game. The senior broke out against Bucknell, hitting at a .563 clip (9-16) for a game-best 26 points and going 4-for-7 from long range. He has two blocks on the season and is shooting 37.9 percent from the floor.