GRESHAM PUTS UP 28 BUT BRYANT CAN’T PULL OUT WIN, FALLS TO FDU, 78-68, THURSDAY

Thursday, December 02, 2010

GRESHAM PUTS UP 28 BUT BRYANT CAN'T PULL OUT WIN, FALLS TO FDU, 78-68, THURSDAY

HACKENSACK, N.J. – Fifth-year senior Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) poured in a game-high and season-best 28 points off 9-for-17 shooting Thursday night, but Fairleigh Dickinson shot an impressive 54 percent from the floor and got 22 points from the stripe to hand the Bryant University men's basketball team its first Northeast Conference loss of the year, 78-68, at Stratis Arena.

Gresham drained six trifectas (6-of-14) and went 4-for-5 from the line in the outing and pulled down a team-best six rebounds as one of two Bulldogs to reach double figures. A trio of Knights (2-3, 1-0 NEC) – led by 24 points from a near-unstoppable Kamil Svrdlik – put up double digits points in the winning effort.

After taking an 11-point deficit into the halftime break, Frankie Dobbs (Berea, Ohio) dropped in his second of three second-half treys to cap off a 15-6 run that brought the Bulldogs (1-6, 0-1) to within just a single basket, 47-45, with 13:17 left to play in the contest.

Bryant would continue to make up ground over the next two-and-a-half minutes, getting as close as a single point, 49-48, after Gresham's fifth 3-pointer of the game at the 10:47 mark.

The Bulldogs still trailed by just three, 54-51, with just under 7:30 on the clock, but a decisive offensive rebound by FDU's Terence Grier (18 points) on the very next play after a missed free throw from Svrdlik would cut the Bulldogs' momentum down, setting off an uninterrupted eight-point run for the Knights that all but sealed the game in the home team's favor. FDU would turn the run into a 24-17 scoring margin that carried through the final whistle, vaulting the Knights to a 78-68 final victory in the 2010-11 conference opener.

Rebounds were an issue all night for the Bulldogs, who were beaten on the glass, 38-27 after a 20-9 halftime mark. But the whistle was an even bigger hindrance for the Black and Gold, who sent their hosts to the line 31 times in the game. FDU would convert on 22 of those opportunities, while the Bulldogs went just 8-of-12 from the charity stripe.

The Bulldogs kept the score close to open Thursday night's contest, but after the first seven minutes, Svrdlik and Grier would take over the FDU scoring, combining for a 14-point stretch over the next 10 minutes that gave the home side a 31-22 advantage with 5:30 to play before the intermission. Gresham did all he could to keep the Knights from running away with the game, drilling four 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes for 14 points at the break, but the fifth-year senior didn't get much help from his supporting cast, who went a combined 6-for-18 from the floor in the frame. Svrdlik went 6-for-8 in the first session to enter the halftime break with 12 points to lead the Knights.

Bryant succeeded in limiting the baskets of leading scorer Mike Scott – the preseason all-conference selection went just 2-for-10 from the field on the day – but Bryant fouls sent him to the line 12 times for 11 points (17 on the night). Senior Barry Latham (Taunton, Mass.) scored a season-high nine points and posted a contest-leading three blocks on the evening, while Dobbs joined Gresham in double figures with 14 points off 50 percent shooting and a 4-of-7 mark from beyond the arc (7 assists).

Gresham's 28 points are a single-game high for the Bulldogs so far this season, as are the 12 buckets the Bulldogs dropped in from long range.

Bryant now gets a five-day break before returning to action at the Chace Athletic Center on Wednesday, December 8. The Bulldogs will host Yale at 7 p.m.