BULLDOGS STRUGGLE AGAINST KENT STATE SATURDAY, DROP 90-49 DECISION AT WORLD VISION CLASSIC

November 13, 2010

BULLDOGS STRUGGLE AGAINST KENT STATE SATURDAY, DROP 90-49 DECISION AT WORLD VISION CLASSIC

Rookie Alex Francis has two double-doubles in his first two collegiate games.

CLEVELAND – Freshman Alex Francis (Harlem, N.Y.) recorded his second-straight double-double and joined sophomore Frankie Dobbs (Berea, Ohio) in recording a team-best 11 points, but 24 fouls and 17 turnovers were a recipe for disaster for the Bryant University men's basketball team Saturday, as the Bulldogs suffered a 90-49 defeat at the hands of Kent State in the second day of the World Vision Classic.

The Bulldogs (0-2) struggled with unforced turnovers and a plethora of fouls throughout the contest and fell behind in the first half by as many as 17 with 7:19 on the clock.

Bryant nearly doubled its total points in the final 6:30 of the opening frame, getting seven points from sophomore Raphael Jordan (Bel Air, Md.) and three apiece from both Francis and senior Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) while holding Kent State (2-0) to just six points. The run narrowed the deficit to 10 at the halftime break, 39-29.

But the Bulldogs didn't enjoy the same strong shooting as they did in the season opener less than 24 hours earlier, connecting on just a third of their 30 shots in the frame. The half also featured one of the most impressive plays of the day, coming at the 15:32 mark when Francis took off from just a step inside the paint to throw down a one-handed dunk, drawing a foul on the play as well.

But the highlights were few and far between from there, as KSU's Carlton Guyton took away Bryant's momentum almost immediately out of the halftime break, scoring nine points on consecutive threes as part of an 11-2 run to move the score to 50-39 just 2:30 into the second session. The deficit put the Bulldogs at the bottom of an uphill battle they just couldn't win, eventually falling, 90-49.

Bryant went 4:14 between points in a lackluster second half, going 6:50 between baskets while allowing Kent State to more than double its halftime score.

After opening the game a perfect 3-for-3 from long range and finishing the first half with a team-leading nine points, Dobbs went cold, finishing the game 3-for-9 from the floor, all from beyond the arc.

The Bulldogs did stir up a late surge, scoring 10 points in the final 7:06 of the game – eight of those points coming from freshman Matthew Lee (Bloomfield, N.J.) – but the Black and Gold would finish the game converting just 29.6 percent from the floor. Lee scored the first points of his career in consecutive order during the final push, including connecting on back-to-back 3-pointers.

The Golden Flashes converted 23 points off Bryant turnovers and had 22 second-chance points to the Bulldogs' four. Guyton paced the game with 19 points and Kent State got 45 points from its bench. Bryant was outrebounded, 51-31.

The Bulldogs remain in Cleveland for one final game at the Wolstein Center, taking on Iona College Sunday at 3:30 p.m. to wrap up World Vision Classic action.