FRANCIS RECORDS DOUBLE-DOUBLE IN FIRST COLLEGIATE GAME, BULLDOGS FALL, 71-57, IN 2010-11 SEASON OPENER AT CLEVELAND STATE

CLEVELAND – A pair of Bryant first-timers shined in the Bulldogs 2010-11 season opener against Cleveland State, but the Bryant University men's basketball team couldn't maintain its impressive first-half play, falling to the Vikings, 71-57, Friday night at the World Vision Classic.

Rookie Alex Francis (Harlem, N.Y.) impressed in his Bryant debut, getting the start in his first-career game and putting up a double-double effort with a team-best 16 points off 7-for-10 shooting and a game-high 10 rebounds. Sophomore transfer Frankie Dobbs (Berea, Ohio) also had a strong day in his first game wearing the black and gold, proving to be the spark for a young Bulldog offense while recording 15 points (5-of-8) of his own with game bests in assists (8) and steals (4).

Fifth-year senior forward Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) looked sharp in his return after missing most of last season due to injury, going 4-for-8 from downtown and racking up 15 points with six boards and a pair of steals.

The Bulldogs (0-1) and the Vikings (1-0) went back and forth throughout a tight first half, trading leads seven times in the season's opening 20 minutes. Neither team led by more than five en route to a 41-36 halftime edge for the home side, while four players – two from each squad – already had double-digit points to his name before the break. Bryant shot 48.3 percent in the first frame, paced by 4-of-7 shooting from Francis (10 points) and a trio of 3-pointers from Gresham (11 points).

But out of the intermission, the Bulldogs gave back their first four possessions of the half and scored just a single point in the opening four minutes while incurring four fouls (two offensive) to allow Cleveland State to open up a 50-37 lead.

Three-straight treys brought the Black and Gold back to within six, 52-46, with the first seven points of the frame scored by Dobbs. But turnovers plagued the Bulldogs, who doubled their total giveaways in just the first 8:41 of the second half.

A 5:36 scoring drought late in the contest allowed the home side to get the game firmly in hand, 69-50, with under four minutes to play, leaving the Bulldogs on the losing end of an eventual 71-57 final.

Bryant committed 11 fouls and 12 turnovers in the second half alone, giving the Vikings 14 points off giveaways (22 for the game). Still, the Bulldogs shot an impressive 47.8 percent on the day – a marked improvement over the numbers the squad posted a year ago.

"This is a potential NCAA tournament team," head coach Tim O'Shea said of Cleveland State. "So we've got to be pleased with Frankie and Alex Francis, and I thought Corey [Maynard] played really well even though he didn't score any points."

Four players debuted in the Bulldog uniform for the first time, three of them seeing significant minutes. Francis and Dobbs each earned starts and spent 37 and 38 minutes on the floor, respectively, while rookie Corey Maynard (Adelaide, Australia) saw 16 minutes of action, all in the second half. Frosh Matthew Lee (Bloomfield, N.J.) also made his collegiate debut in the loss.

"We've got some pieces here," said O'Shea. "And when we add a few more pieces through the recruiting process, I think we'll be just where we want to be when we're done with this [Division I] transition."

The Vikings finished the day 25-for-50 as a team, with 24 points coming from star guard Cole Norris. He led three CSU players in double digits on the night. The home side outrebounded the Bulldogs by just two, 28-26, despite Bryant leading at the half, 17-14. A trio of Bulldogs – Francis, Dobbs and sophomore Vlad Kondratyev (Nikolayev, Ukraine) – put up a block in the season opener.

"This is a real step forward for us," said O'Shea. "But they had too many weapons for us tonight."

The Bulldogs return to the Wolstein Center court in search of their first win of the 2010-11 campaign Saturday at 3:30 p.m., when they face off against Kent State in the second game of the three-day World Vision Classic.