BULLDOGS ENTER TOUGHEST STRETCH OF SEASON, START WITH ROAD BOUT AGAINST BOSTON COLLEGE SUNDAY AT 4 P.M.
December 18, 2009
BULLDOGS ENTER TOUGHEST STRETCH OF SEASON, START WITH ROAD BOUT AGAINST BOSTON COLLEGE SUNDAY AT 4 P.M.
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SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team will enter the toughest four-game stretch of the 2009-10 season spanning the holiday season into the new year and will kickstart the stretch with a 4 p.m. bout against the ACC's Boston College Sunday (Dec. 20) at Conte Forum. The Bulldogs are still in search of their first win of the season while the Eagles look to avoid their first losing streak of the year in the contest. The game will be broadcast live on WOON 1240-AM with Jon Wallach and Mike Shalin calling the action.
THE PARTICULARS
Bryant opens up its toughest stretch of the 2009-10 season Sunday
afternoon (Dec. 20) when it takes on Boston College in a 4 p.m.
bout at Conte Forum. The game kickstarts a 14-day, four-game
stretch spanning the new year which includes road games against the
Eagles, St. John's, Indiana and Cornell. Sunday will be the
Bulldogs' only game against an ACC opponent this season as Bryant
still searches for its first win of the 2009-10 campaign.
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs and the Eagles faced off for the first time in the
history of the two programs last season, when Bryant suffered an
80-61 defeat at Conte Forum on December 10, 2008. In the teams'
last meeting, now-senior Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) scored a
game-high 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, also
pulling down a team-best seven rebounds in 37 minutes of action.
Sophomore Sam Leclerc (Fayette, Maine) dished out four assists
while the Bulldogs were held to a 36.7 percent clip from the
floor.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
BC looks to avoid its first losing streak of the season against the
Bulldogs Sunday, as the Eagles are coming off back-to-back losses
to local opponents in Harvard and URI. A trio of Eagles average 14
points and seven rebounds per game or better, led by Corey Raji,
who paces BC not just in points scored (14.9 ppg) but also in
rebounding average (8.5 rpg). Joe Trapani follows with 14.5 ppg and
pulls down 7.1 boards per outing, while Reggie Jackson records 14.4
points per contest with 7.5 rebounds per outing. Biko Paris's 59
assists lead the way for BC while Cortney Dunn has a side-best nine
blocks on the year.
BRYANT vs. THE ACC
The Bulldogs are 0-2 all-time against current members of
the ACC, having faced off against both BC and the University of
Maryland last season. Bryant fell against both opponents, dropping
an 80-61 decision to the Eagles on December 10 and suffering a
72-51 setback against the Terps two days after Christmas.
Now-senior Cecil Gresham paced the Black and Gold in both outings,
totaling 33 points.
LAST TIME OUT
Columbia's Noruwa Agho scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-12
shooting from the floor to help lead the visiting Lions to a 69-57
non-conference win over Bryant University Saturday afternoon at the
Chace Athletic Center in just the Bulldogs' second home game of the
season.
Columbia led, 31-28, at the half and opened the second frame on an
11-4 tear. A steal and layup by Niko Scott gave the Lions their
largest lead of the game , 42-32, with 14 minutes left, and the
Lions would stretch it to 53-39 on back-to-back 3-pointer from
Agho.
But the Bulldogs would answer. A basket and free throw from junior
Mike Chroney pulled the Bulldogs back to within 10 points, 55-47,
with just over six minutes to play, but a pair of free throws by
Patrick Foley followed by a pull-up jumper in the lane by Scott and
another basket inside by Agho put the game away.
Columbia made 6-of-8 free throws in the final 5:07 and finished the game converting on 20-of-25 from the line in the win. Foley and Brian Grimes (7 rebounds) each had 12 points for the Lions, who held a 33-23 edge on the glass.
Bryant got a team-high 13 points from freshman guard Raphael Jordan, who was 5-of-8 shooting from the floor and dished out four assists as the Bulldogs shot 48 percent from the field in the game.
Chroney, coming off a career-high 11 points in his first career
start Wednesday at Yale, was 4-for-5 Saturday, adding five
rebounds, two assists and one steal in a career-best 32 minutes.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs continue on their toughest stretch of the season as
they return to New York City to face off against Big East opponent
St. John's in a 7 p.m. Christmas Eve Eve (Dec. 23) matchup before
the holiday break. After the five-day hiatus, Bryant returns for
the program's first-ever matchup against a Big Ten school when it
heads to Bloomington, Ind. to take on the Hoosiers on Dec. 28 (9
p.m. EST). The team will then welcome in the new year with a 2 p.m.
contest against the best of the Ivy League in Cornell University on
January 2, 2010.
ALMA MATTERS
With Sunday's game against the Eagles, Bryant will have played the
alma maters of three Bulldog coaches already this season. Head
coach Tim O'Shea and assistant coach Dwayne Pina are both Boston
College graduates, while O'Shea also coached at Conte Forum,
serving as associate head coach under Al Skinner from 1997-2001.
O'Shea, who donned the Maroon and Gold from 1980-84, helped the
Eagles to two Big East regular-season titles and four postseason
tournaments, including a pair of runs to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and
one to the Elite Eight. Pina, who played for O'Shea at BC from
1997-2000, earned Defensive MVP and Top Playmaker awards in his
time with the Eagles, starting in 38 games and appearing in 78 as a
guard. The Bulldogs have already taken on the alma mater of
assistant coach Kevin Kurbec, who attended Providence College.
BLOCK PARTY: WHO'S YOUR PAPA?
Sophomore Papa Lo (Thies, Senegal) has hit his stride as a
defensive powerhouse for this Bulldogs over the last two weeks.
Following his three-block performance against Columbia Saturday, Lo
has now recorded five-consecutive multi-block games and has six on
the season, going without a block just once in 10 games. Lo set a
new career high with his nine blocks against Long Island and has 29
rejections on the year. That number has vaulted him onto the
national scene and into the national rankings when it comes to
blocked shots. The nine rejections against LIU ties him for second
in the nation for individual game highs, while his 2.90 blocks per
game are good for No. 16 in the country and tops in the Northeast
Conference. His nine rejections against the Blackbirds rank No. 2
all-time in the Bryant record books for blocks in a single game
(record set at 11 by Mike Williams on Dec. 1, 2002) and is tied for
seventh on the Northeast Conference's all-time single-game charts.
It was also the most swats in an NEC game since Monmouth's John
Bunch blocked 10 back in February of 2007.
In the last five contests, the first-year Bryant bigman has
posted 21 sendbacks, keeping him at the very top of the conference
standings. Lo's nine blocks against LIU paced a season-high 12 for
the Bulldogs as a team, falling just one rejection shy of tying an
all-time program record. But Lo's contributions are not limited to
his blocks. Throughout the year, he has provided a much-needed
solution to the height, defense, rebounding and shot-blocking holes
of the 2008-09 season. Bryant's first-year bigman not only leads
the team in blocks (29) but he is also second in rebounds with 36
(3.6 rpg).
SITTIN' ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY STATE
A trio of players get a little closer to home Sunday when the
Bulldogs travel to BC, as each of them calls Massachusetts home.
Seniors Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass.) and Anthony Thomas
(Boston, Mass.) and junior Barry Latham (Taunton, Mass.) return to
the Bay State for the second time this season after taking on
Harvard on Nov. 20.This will be the Bulldogs' final game of the
season in the Bay State.
CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE GAME?
Bryant University Athletics has partnered with Pack Network, who
will be providing an industry-leading video streaming solution for
more than 50 home contests during the 2009-10 athletic season,
including live broadcasts of all 11 Bryant University home men's
basketball games. Live event productions will include multiple
camera angles, an on-screen scoreboard and state-of-the-art
graphics. Fans can purchase an all-access pass for $75, giving
subscribers the opportunity to watch not only all the live coverage
of Bryant sporting events, but also access to premium content not
available to the public. Single-game subscriptions may also be
purchased for each live event throughout the season for $5.95.
Visit www.bryantbulldogs.tv for more
information and a schedule of events.
BRYANT HOOPS ON WOON AND WJMF RADIO
In addition to being streamed online at www.bryantbulldogs.tv, for the
second-straight season, all Bryant University basketball home games
and select road contests can be heard LIVE on WOON 1240 AM. Veteran
sportscaster Jon Wallach of 98.5 FM The Sports Hub Boston returns
to call the action as the voice of the Bulldogs. WJMF, Bryant's
student radio station, will also broadcast home contests for the
2009-10 season.
TV STARS
The Bryant men make a pair of appearances on regional television
this season. The Bulldogs will appear on Fox College Sports (FCS),
Madison Square Garden TV (MSG) and Fox Sports Network-Pittsburgh,
also appearing on the BIG TEN Network as well as ESPN Full Court.
Bryant first appeared in living rooms when it traveled to Brooklyn,
N.Y. on December 5 for a conference game against St. Francis (NY),
where Fox College Sports and MSG carried the broadcast live.
FSN-Pittsburgh, FCS and ESPN Full Court will be on hand at the
Chace Athletic Center when the league opponents Bryant and Saint
Francis (PA) meet on February 11, 2009 (7 p.m. start). Both games
will be carried locally on Cox Sports-3 in Rhode Island and Eastern
Connecticut. Bryant will also appear on the BIG-TEN Network for the
second year in a row when the team travels to Indiana on Dec. 28
for a 9 pm (EST) game against the Hoosiers. Last year, Bryant made
its debut on the BIG-10 Network when the Bulldogs took on the
University of Iowa.