BULLDOGS MAKE LATE COMEBACK BUT CAN’T OVERCOME ARMY, FALL IN HOME OPENER, 76-66

November 20, 2010

BULLDOGS MAKE LATE COMEBACK BUT CAN'T OVERCOME ARMY, FALL IN HOME OPENER, 76-66

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Reigning NEC Rookie of the Week Alex Francis (Harlem, N.Y.) scored a career-high 19 points while sophomore point guard Frankie Dobbs (Berea, Ohio) matched the effort, but despite a late-game surge, the Bryant University men's basketball team couldn't hold on for the win, falling to Army, 76-66, in the 2010-11 home opener Saturday afternoon.

Francis's career mark came off 9-of-14 shooting (64.3 percent) from the floor while the frosh forward also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds to lead the Black and Gold, but it was Dobbs's second-half effort that guided the Bulldogs (1-3) to even the score at 46-46 with 14:15 left to play in the game.

After just a two-point first frame, Dobbs upped his total to five when he capped off a 14-5 Bryant run that opened the second half and drew the teams even for the first time since the score read 5-5.

It wouldn't last long, as Army (3-1) took back six points for a 52-46 edge as the clock ticked under the nine-minute mark. But Dobbs would get the momentum back for the home side all by himself, scoring the next seven points in consecutive order to hand his side its first lead of the game since the opening basket, 53-52, with 7:43 to go.

The teams would trade leads and 3-pointers over the next four minutes until the Black Knights' Julian Simmons – who led the game with an impressive 30 points off 12-of-24 shooting – put an end to the back-and-forth affair with a long trey, opening up a five-point visitors lead, 64-59, with 3:44 on the clock. It was one of three trifectas for Simmons on the day.

The 3-pointer was part of what would end up being a 13-0 run that ran the clock down to just 1:10 before the Bulldogs got back on the board with a Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) made free throw.

Dobbs would nail back-to-back threes, both assisted by senior Barry Latham (Taunton, Mass.), to close the gap to 73-66, but with the clock at just 42 seconds, the deficit was too much to make up as Bryant took the eventual 76-66 loss.

Dobbs scored 15 of his team-leading 19 points in the final 10 minutes of the contest, while Francis was held to just seven points and a single rebound in the second frame (12p, 7r in first half) and Sunday's hero Raphael Jordan (Bel Air, Md.) was held without a point after an 11-point start in the first 20 minutes. Gresham also recorded double-digit points on the outing (12) and all four played at least 35 minutes in the game.

Despite the loss, the Bulldogs proved to their home fans just how much improved the team is from a year ago. Bryant overcame a nine-point halftime deficit and recorded a number of game bests in the affair, including assists (Dobbs, 8, ties career high), steals (Jordan, 6, career high), blocks (2, Vlad Kondratyev, ties season high) and minutes (Dobbs, 40, career high). Francis and Dobbs both impressed in their Chace Athletic Center debut, and the former dazzled the crowd with a trio of dunks in his first home appearance, including an earth-shaking two-hand slam with 9:22 to play in the first half.

On the day, Army outshot Bryant, 49.1 percent to 35.3 percent and owned the glass, 45-33. The Bulldogs put up four blocks to the Black Knights' three and came up with 12 steals to Army's four. Both teams recorded nine trifectas in the game.

Bryant returns to the hardwood Wednesday afternoon when it hosts Harvard at the Chace Athletic Center for a 4:00 p.m. pre-Thanksgiving Day matchup.