RAPHAEL JORDAN'S 3-POINT BUZZERBEATER EARNS BULLDOGS FIRST WIN OF SEASON, 74-72

Sunday, November 14, 2010

RAPHAEL JORDAN'S 3-POINT BUZZERBEATER EARNS BULLDOGS FIRST WIN OF SEASON, 74-72, OVER IONA

CLEVELAND – Sophomore Raphael Jordan (Bel Air, Md.) let loose a 3-pointer with no time left on the clock, beating the final buzzer by mere milliseconds to vault the Bryant University men's basketball team to a thrilling 74-72 win over Iona Sunday in the final game of the World Vision Basketball Classic.

Raphael Jordan's three-point field goal at the buzzer lifted the Bryant men's basketball team to a thrilling 74-72 win over Iona Sunday night at the World Vision Classic in Cleveland, Ohio.  Bryant hosts Salve Regina Wednesday (7 pm) and Army on Saturday (3:30 pm).

The victory was the team's first of the season and equaled the Bulldogs' win total from a year ago.

After overcoming a seven-point halftime deficit, the Bulldogs (1-2) held Iona (0-3) to just a single basket for just under a nine-minute stretch late in the second half of Sunday's bout, but free throws allowed the Gaels to stay in it and eventually retake a two-point edge, 70-68, with 1:03 to play in the game. They would score again with 36 seconds to go to take a four-point lead, 72-68.

But with just 19.7 seconds showing on the clock, senior Barry Latham (Taunton, Mass.) drew a huge foul as he released a 3-point attempt from the left side, going to the line to shoot three and sinking each one to draw the Bulldogs to within a single point, 72-71.

From there, all Bryant could do was foul and hope for a miss. And that's just what they got. Getting the ball back with 11.2 seconds to play, sophomore Frankie Dobbs (Berea, Ohio) brought it down the floor but hit heavy traffic with no room to shoot and the seconds ticking away.

His only option appeared to his right, and in less than a second, Dobbs passed it off to Jordan, who in one fluid motion, got the shot off just before the buzzer and watched the ball swish through the net for the game-winner.

The second half was all about the three, as both teams combined for nine long balls in the first 10 minutes – six of them coming out of Black and Gold hands, including a trio from sophomore Frankie Dobbs (Berea, Ohio) and a pair from Raphael Jordan (Bel Air, Md.).

A number of defensive stops, offensive boards and heads-up teamwork on the Bulldog side over the next two-plus minutes saw Bryant make a quick return to pull back within three, 56-53, with 7:15 left to play.

Another Gresham three deep brought the Bulldogs to within two, and when Vlad Kondratyev (Nikolayev, Ukraine) drew a foul in the other end in the bonus, he went to the line to sink two and knot the game for the first time in the contest, 58-58.

Kondratyev would stay hot, scoring the next four points to make it six-straight, the final two of which gave Bryant a 62-60 advantage with 3:32 to play.

The Bulldogs looked strong out to the gates, opening up a 9-1 advantage and holding Iona without a basket for the first 6:34 of the contest. But a 12-3 run in the Gaels' favor – Bryant's only points came off the second of consecutive treys from rookie Matthew Lee (Bloomfield, N.J.) – saw Iona take a 13-12 lead with 9:27 to go in the first frame.

From there, the lead would change hands six more times before the intermission, with Iona ultimately taking the final exchange before halftime to enter the locker room up, 28-21. Randy Dezouvre would score the final eight points of the frame for the Gaels and the Bulldogs would score just a pair of free throws in that stretch.

Dobbs led the Bulldogs with 20 points including four 3-point field goals while Jordan chipped in with 14 points including a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc.  Bryant shot 40 percent from the floor in the game and made 11-of-29 three-point attempts and came up big at the line, sinking 15 of 19 free throws (78.9 percent) in the game. 

Iona, led by Scott Machado's team-high 16 points, shot 45.3 percent from the floor and finished the game 9-for-25 from three-point range.

Bryant will host Salve Regina this Wednesday night at 7 p.m. before welcoming Army to the Chace Athletic Center this Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. tip-off.

At Cleveland, Ohio - Wolstein Center

BRYANT 74, IONA 72

BRYANT (1-2)
DOBBS, Frankie 5-13 6-7 20; JORDAN, Raphael 5-11 1-1 14; GRESHAM, Cecil 5-9 0-0 12; KONDRATYEV, V. 4-6 2-2 10; LEE, Matthew 2-9 0-0 6; LATHAM, Barry 1-3 4-5 6; FRANCIS, Alex 2-6 2-4 6; MAYNARD, Corey 0-3 0-0 0; CHRONEY, Michael 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-60 15-19 74.

IONA (0-3)
Machado, Scott 7-15 0-0 16; Smyth, Kyle 4-7 4-5 14; Glover, Mike 3-4 6-8 12; Jenkins, Jermel 4-11 0-0 12; Dezouvre, Randy 3-6 2-3 8; Armand, Sean 2-5 0-0 5; Pelcher, Chris 1-1 2-2 4; Dwight, Rashon 0-3 1-4 1; Kesic, Aleksandar 0-0 0-0 0; Rodriguez, Alejo 0-0 0-2 0; Fields, Trinity 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 15-24 72.

Bryant........................   21   53  -   74
Iona..........................   28   44  -   72

3-point goals--Bryant 11-29 (DOBBS, Frankie 4-10; JORDAN, Raphael 3-3; GRESHAM, Cecil 2-5; LEE, Matthew 2-8; MAYNARD, Corey 0-2; LATHAM, Barry 0-1), Iona 9-25 (Jenkins, Jermel 4-7; Machado, Scott 2-6; Smyth, Kyle 2-5; Armand, Sean 1-3; Dwight, Rashon 0-2; Fields, Trinity 0-1; Dezouvre, Randy 0-1). Fouled out--Bryant-None, Iona-Rodriguez, Alejo. Rebounds--Bryant 40 (LATHAM, Barry 8), Iona 31 (Machado, Scott 7). Assists--Bryant 15 (LATHAM, Barry 5), Iona 14 (Machado, Scott 6). Total fouls--Bryant 22, Iona 19.
Technical fouls--Bryant-None, Iona-None.