BIRRELL SCORES 20 BUT BULLDOGS COME UP SHORT AT ARMY, 64-58
November 30, 2009
MEN'S BASKETBALL FALLS TO ARMY 64-58 DESPITE 20 FROM BIRRELL
WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Bulldogs severely threatened Army's five-game winning streak, but despite a season-high 20 points from senior captain Chris Birrell (Scituate, R.I.) and 55 percent shooting in the first half, the Bryant University men's basketball team dropped its sixth-straight contest, 64-58, on the road at Christl Arena Monday night.
Birrell was the only Bulldog to score double-digit points and his game-high 20 came off 6-of-11 shooting, all of it coming beyond the arc. The guard hit his career-best sixth 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining in the game to bring the score to 61-58, but it would be Bryant's last point in the loss. Junior Barry Latham (Taunton, Mass.) paced both teams on the glass, pulling down a contest-best 10 rebounds, while sophomore Papa Lo (Thies, Senegal) posted four blocks to lead the game. Senior Adam Parzych (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) dished out a game-high six assists on the day.
The Bulldogs (0-6) got off to their most confident start yet, winning the opening tip and taking a quick 8-3 lead. The first five minutes of the contest saw Bryant knock down a quartet of 3-pointers, including the first career trey for rookie Claybrin McMath (Adelaide, Australia) in 14 tries.
Bryant would hit four more from long distance in the frame, including back-to-back 3-pointers from Vlad Kondratyev (Nikolayev, Ukraine) and Parzych - the latter coming from a long way beyond the arc - that would allow the visitors to take their biggest lead of the night, 24-16, with 7:26 to play. And while their lead grew, the Bulldogs froze the Army side at 16 points for more than three minutes.
But the Black Knights (5-1) would tie it up, 26-26, with 5:32 to go in the frame and the teams would trade leads over the next five minutes. Army took its first lead of the night during the span, 28-26, but Bryant's Raphael Jordan (Bel Air, Md.) would quickly retie the game. The freshman would go 6-for-6 from the line on the day.
Lo kept it tied at 28-28 on the next play with a huge block on Ella Ellis at the 3:02 mark, marking Bryant's third rejection in the opening 20 minutes.
The first of two-consecutive Birrell treys gave the Bulldogs a three-point advantage with just over 2:30 to play, but back-to-back buckets from the Black Knight ranks earned the home side the 32-31 lead with 48 seconds remaining.
Birrell sunk another from 3-point land with just seven seconds on the clock to give Bryant a two-point, 34-32 edge - a score that nearly went to intermission before a controversial foul called on Jordan with a tenth of a second remaining sent Josh Miller to the line to shoot three.
But the senior guard followed suit for Army on the game, knocking down just the middle of three attempts to send the game to break with a 34-33 halftime tally in Bryant's favor.
The Bulldogs shot 55 percent (11-of-20) from the field in the frame, going 8-for-15 from beyond the arc and outrebounding Army, 14-10.
But five turnovers in the first six minutes of second-half play caused the Bulldogs to relinquish their lead, and the visitors found themselves in a 44-36 hole courtesy of an 11-2 Black Knights run over 5:12 to start the frame.
Birrell pulled the Bulldogs within two, 44-42, with 11:01 on the clock after Latham and Lo roped in consecutive offensive boards, dishing the second one out to the senior captain on the wing for his third three of the contest.
But dismal shooting through much of the half coupled with miscues and turnovers hindered the Black and Gold, who went 3:26 between points in the middle of the session while allowing the Black Knights to continually get good looks at the basket.
Bryant's defense, which had disappeared out of the break, reappeared in the closing minutes of the contest, holding Army scoreless for nearly three minutes. But the offense couldn't make use of the opportunity, picking up just a single point to move the score to 55-48.
But after an Army bucket, Birrell knocked down five-straight points - including hitting his fifth of the night from downtown - to get Bryant back within four, 57-53, with just over two minutes to play.
The hope for a comeback upset was revived with just 1:06 remaining with a Latham theft off the inbound, but after Bryant gave it back without making a basket, Army converted on 7-of-10 free throws in the final minute, securing their fifth-straight victory, 64-58.
On the day, the Bulldogs shot 36.4 percent (16-44) from the field, hitting at a 41.4 percent clip from behind the arc (12-of-29). Army converted on 40.4 percent of all shots (23-57), but struggled from the charity stripe, making good on just 12-of-21 opportunities (57.1 percent). Bryant would shoot 82.4 percent (14-17) from the line.
The Black and Gold would just edge the Black Knights on the glass, 35-34, but turned the ball over 20 times to Army's 12.
Bryant remains on the road for its next three games, next traveling to Brooklyn, N.Y. for the start of the league play on Thursday, Dec. 3. The Bulldogs will play their first official Northeast Conference contest against Long Island University at 7 p.m.