BULLDOGS CLOSE OUT NEC RIVALRY WEEK WITH RETURN TRIP TO CCSU SATURDAY (3:30 P.M.)
February 5, 2010
BULLDOGS CLOSE OUT RIVALRY WEEK WITH RETURN TRIP TO CCSU SATURDAY (3:30 P.M.)
SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team returns to the road to wrap up the inaugural NEC Rivalry Week, travelling to William H. Detrick Gymnasium in New Britain, Conn. for a rematch against Central Connecticut State University just two days after facing the Blue Devils at home and suffering a 34-60 setback. Tipoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
THE SERIES
This is the 16th meeting between the Bulldogs and the Blue Devils,
dating back to the 1973-74 season when CCSU kicked the all-time
series off with an 89-87 win. The Blue Devils currently hold a 9-6
edge in the all-time series, with their most recent victory coming
just two days ago, 60-34, at the Chace Athletic Center in
Smithfield, R.I. The teams have faced off just twice at the
Division I level, with the majority of their meetings coming back
when CCSU was a member of the Division II ranks. (Central made the
jump to DI prior to the 1986-87 season.)
Thursday night, the Blue Devils held the Bulldogs to a season-low 34 points but saw 10 shots get rejected, led by seven blocks from sophomore bigman Papa Lo (Thies, Senegal). Lo paced the Black and Gold with a career-high seven points and led the game with eight rebounds, tying his current career best. Bryant recorded just five assists on the day and shot a season-low 23.5 percent from the floor. Joe Seymore registered a game-high 19 points to lead three CCSU players in double figures.
SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS
CCSU is led by a pair of 12+ point scorers in Robby Ptacek (12.9
ppg) and Shemik Thompson (12.0 ppg). The Blue Devils have been
without NEC Preseason All-Conference selection Ken Horton, who will
miss the entire season due to injury, but have been successful
nonetheless, led on the glass by 7.1 boards per game from David
Simmons. Thompson's 69 assists are a team best as are his 42
steals, while Joe Efese has posted 28 rejections on the season. As
a team, CCSU shoots well from the line (71.4 percent) and a shade
under 40 percent from the field (.397) and the Blue Devils look to
continue their current three-game winning streak - the first streak
of the season - with their second-consecutive victory over Bryant.
BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
Bryant is 0-11 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
34-71, having most frequently played former Northeast-10 Conference
(DII) members Quinnipiac (16-37). 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
Joe Seymore scored a game-high 19 points while Markeys Deans added
12 points to go with seven rebounds as Central Connecticut State
University handed Bryant University a 60-34 defeat in Northeast
Conference action Thursday night at the Chace Athletic Center.
Bryant raced out to a quick 8-3 lead on the visiting Blue Devils, thanks in part to the play of sophomore Papa Lo (Thies, Senegal) defensively in the paint. Lo, who blocked six shots against CCSU as a freshman at UMass, led the Bulldogs in their strong start, stuffing the Blue Devils with six rejections in the first half - five of them coming in the first four minutes of the contest - en route to a seven-block game. His game-high seven blocks are good to knot him for fifth in the single-game all-time blocks list.
But it would be all Blue Devils from there as Seymore drained a deep three from the right side and CCSU put the game away early with a 24-3 run over the next six minutes to gain a 27-11 lead with 8:45 left to go in the first half.
Seymore and Vince Rosario combined to make six 3-point field goals during the run. A layup by Lo and a free throw moments later made it 29-14, but Seymore was there once again with another long lefty three to give the Blue Devils their largest lead of the night, 32-14.
Bryant shot just under 24 percent from the floor as the Bulldogs were held to their lowest point total of the season. Lo led Bryant with a career-best seven points and tied his career high with a game-best eight rebounds in 28 minutes of action. Senior guard Adam Parzych (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) and rookie Raphael Jordan (Bel Air, Md.) each had six points. Lo's seven rejections put him in a tie for fourth among the all-time single-game block leaders, a list on which he already owns the No. 2 spot (9 at Long Island on Dec. 3, 2009).
"We had a very difficult time scoring tonight," said head coach Tim O'Shea. "We can't afford to miss the number of shots we did in and around the basket.
"We've got some pieces," he added, "we just don't have all the parts right now."
Central Connecticut shot 41.7 percent from the floor in the game and outrebounded Bryant, 44-28. Rosario had 10 points as the Blue Devils made just one three in the second half after converting 8-of-12 from long range in the first.
UP NEXT
Bryant returns home to the Chace Athletic Center Feb. 11 to take on
Saint Francis (PA) Thursday night at 7 p.m. The game marks the
first meeting between the Bulldogs and the Red Flash in the 2009-10
season and will be carried live on FSN-Pittsburgh, Fox College
Sports and ESPN Full Court and can also be seen on Cox-3 in Rhode
Island and Eastern Connecticut.
THE SULTAN OF SWAT: WHO'S YOUR PAPA?
After suffering a relative drought since opening the new year - he
posted just two blocks in seven games to open 2010 - sophomore Papa
Lo has returned to the shot-blocking scene, and in a big way. In
the last two contests, Lo has recorded a combined nine rejections,
including sending back seven blocks against Central Connecticut
Thursday night. It was the ninth multi-block game of the season for
the first-year Bryant bigman, who transferred from UMass after his
freshman season. Lo has had considerable success against the Blue
Devils in the past as well, posting six blocks against CCSU as a
rookie with the Minutemen.
Lo's seven blocked shots mark his second-highest career total and tie him for fourth among Bryant's all-time single-game block leaders, a list on which he already owns the No. 2 spot (9 at Long Island on Dec. 3, 2009). On the year, the Senegal native has 42 rejections and averages 1.91 blocks per game, both good for third among all NEC players. Lo recorded five of his nine multi-block games in consecutive order and has at least one block in 14 contests.
Lo set a new career high for blocks in a single game against LIU on December 3, posting nine rejections in 25 minutes of action. Those nine rejections ties him for ninth in the nation in individual game highs and ranks 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). The number is also the most swats from any NEC player this season and is tied for seventh on the Northeast Conference's all-time single-game charts. Lo's nine blocks were also the most rejections in an NEC game since Monmouth's John Bunch blocked 10 in February 2007.
His nine blocks against Long Island paced a season-high 12 for the Bulldogs as a team, a number that fell just one rejection shy of tying an all-time program record, while the seven swats he posted Thursday against the Blue Devils led Bryant's 10 total blocks, which ranks tied for fourth in the record books.