Posted: Dec 21, 2009

BULLDOGS TAKE ON ST. JOHN'S IN FINAL GAME BEFORE HOLIDAY BREAK WEDNESDAY (7 P.M.)

December 21, 2009

BULLDOGS TAKE ON THE BIG EAST'S ST. JOHN'S WEDNESDAY NIGHT IN LAST OUTING BEFORE HOLIDAY BREAK (7 P.M.)

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team returns to the court Wednesday, Dec. 23 when the Bulldogs take on their second Big East opponent of the season in St. John's University. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

THE PARTICULARS
Bryant continues on its toughest four-game stretch of the 2009-10 season Wednesday night (Dec. 23) with a 7 p.m. bout against Big East powerhouse St. John's at Carnesecca Arena. The game is the second contest in a 14-day, four-game stretch spanning the new year which includes road games against Boston College, the Red Storm, Indiana and Cornell. Wednesday will be the Bulldogs' second of two games against Big East opponents this season as Bryant still searches for its first win of the 2009-10 campaign.

THE SERIES
This will be the first meeting between the Bulldogs and the Red Storm in the history of the two programs.

SCOUTING THE RED STORM (as of 12/20)
Entering Monday night's Holiday Festival Championship Game, St. John's is led by a pair of players who average double figures in DJ Kennedy (16.7 ppg) and Dwight Hardy (10.5 ppg). Sean Evans paces the Red Storm on the glass, pulling down 7.0 rebounds per game while Kennedy is also strong on the boards with 6.6 rpg. Justin Brownlee's 14 blocks are a team best while Kennedy has 35 assists to compliment his other squad-leading statistics. Kennedy shoots nearly 50 percent from the field (51-of-103) and is strong from the line as well, converting at a 81.3 percent clip. The team's only loss so far on the season has been an 80-71 setback to Duke at Cameron Indoor and the Bulldogs and Red Storm have faced off against a pair of common opponents in Long Island University and Brown. Bryant fell in both contests while St. John's topped the Blackbirds, 83-70, in the 2009-10 season opener and snuck out a win at home against Brown, 79-76.

BRYANT vs. THE BIG EAST
The Bulldogs look for their first-ever win over a Big East program Wednesday against St. John's, having gone 0-10 against the conference all-time. Bryant already matched up against a Big East foe once this season, when the Bulldogs traveled across town to take on Providence College in the 2009-10 season opener on November 13. Bryant came closest to conquering this David vs. Goliath-type matchup back on November 1, 2006, when the Black and Gold played Syracuse to a 92-86 battle at the Carrier Dome that ending in the Orange edging the Bulldogs in the last minutes of the game. Bryant has never played a Big East team at home.

LAST TIME OUT
Senior captain Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) scored 18 points off 7-of-13 shooting from the floor, but the Bryant University men's basketball team couldn't pull out a win against Boston College on the road Sunday afternoon, dropping a 72-46 non-conference decision at Conte Forum.

The Eagles took a 38-16 halftime lead, taking twice as many shots as Bryant, 38-19 in the first half. But the Bulldogs kept it close to open the second frame, getting outscored by just three, 16-13, in the first 10 minutes of the frame.

Bryant's defense would continue to step up throughout the second half, causing miscues and turnovers and putting pressure on the BC offense. But despite increased point production, the Bulldogs couldn't cut into BC's 20-plus point lead, eventually falling, 72-46.

The Bulldogs nearly doubled their first-half point production in the closing 20 minutes and were outscored by just four points, 34-30. Bryant shot 34.5 percent in the second session for a .333 clip on the day.

In the first half, the Eagles opened up a double-digit lead just under 10 minutes into the contest, growing their advantage to 15 points before back-to-back 3-pointers from Gresham and fellow senior Adam Parzych (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) closed the gap to 21-12 with 7:20 to play before the break.

But BC would rip off a 17-4 run to close first-half scoring, taking a 38-16 lead into the intermission.

On the day, Bryant got a team-high 18 points from Gresham, leaving the senior captain just four points shy of becoming the program's 31st 1000-point scorer. Junior Michael Chroney (Nashua, N.H.) led the team on the glass, pulling down six boards while adding six points and a block. Parzych and senior Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass.) chipped in seven points apiece.

The Eagles were led by a game-best 21 points from Joe Trapani off 9-of-13 shooting from the field while Corey Raji collected 20 points in 30 minutes of action.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs continue on their toughest stretch of the season as they return from a five-day holiday break to travel to Bloomington, Indiana to take on the Hoosiers of Indiana University on December 28 (9 p.m. EST). The game will be the program's first-ever matchup against a Big Ten school.

BABY GRAND
With his 18 points against Boston College Sunday afternoon, senior captain and leading scorer Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) sits just four points shy of becoming the 31st 1,000-point scorer in Bryant men's basketball history. Currently sitting at 996 career points and No. 31 on the all-time scoring list, Gresham has appeared in just seven of the Bulldogs' 11 games this season due to injury but averages a team-best 16.0 points per game.

Gresham was the team's leading scorer and rebounder as a junior in 2008-09, and while his numbers last season 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 97 games, starting in 76 and averages over 26 minutes per outing. He has racked up 389 rebounds, 29 blocks, 90 assists and 52 steals, but those numbers are nothing compared to his fast-approaching career benchmark.

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
The Empire State is the home to just one Bulldog in senior Adam Parzych. The guard hails from Lindenhurst, N.Y. and Thursday's game will be the second of three-consecutive contests in his home state against New York opponents. Bryant will visit New York three more times later in the season for a total of six visits to The Empire State.

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.