BULLDOGS PUT UP SECOND-MOST POINTS IN DIVISION I ERA BUT FALL TO BOSTON COLLEGE, 93-77, SUNDAY AFTERNOON

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Bryant University men's basketball team scored 77 points, the most of the 2010-11 season and the second-most in a game in the Division I era, but the total wasn't enough to topple a dominant Boston College side, as the Bulldogs fell to the Eagles, 93-77, Sunday afternoon at Conte Forum.

It was a game of highs and lows for the Bulldogs (1-9), who erased a number of season marks against BC (9-2) on both ends of the scoresheet. While the team's 77 points scored were good for the most this year and second-most since joining the DI ranks, the 93 Bryant allowed were also a high in 2010-11. Bryant shot a season-best 48.3 percent from the floor in the game – also allowing its opponent the highest shooting percentage against of the year, at a .576 clip. But the Bulldogs dominated the home team on the glass, a category they've only won twice before this year, grabbing 35 rebounds to BC's 23. The 12-point margin on the boards was also the largest of the season.

Rookie Alex Francis (Harlem, N.Y.) led the way for the Bulldogs on the glass, pulling down a game-high nine boards, and also led the team with 15 points – 11 of them coming in the second frame. Classmate Matthew Lee (Bloomfield, N.J.) kept pace with Francis, also scoring 15 to set a new career high for the second-straight contest. Sophomore point guard Frankie Dobbs (Berea, Ohio) chipped in double-digit scoring as well with 12 points off 4-of-8 shooting, while a pair of Eagles in Josh Southern and Biko Paris led the game with 18 points apiece.

After the Bulldogs made up an eight-point deficit to start the game, Lee exploded for three-straight 3-pointers on just three attempts to bring Bryant within a single basket, 14-11, with just under 15 showing on the clock. The sharpshooting frosh tacked on another score at the 13-minute mark, tying his previous career high just seven minutes into the contest.

The run set off a blistering pace between the Bulldogs and the Eagles over the next six minutes, as Dobbs grabbed an offensive rebound and drilled a trey with 12:06 to play to cut the score to 18-16 in BC's favor.

The game stayed within five points but the Bulldogs never broke out in front, drawing again within two at the 9:15 mark on a play that saw four players get involved and ended with a convincing two-hand jam from senior Barry Latham (Taunton, Mass.) for a 26-24 score. With the ball outside the arc on the right side, Lee passed to Francis inside. Francis, with nowhere to go, kicked it back out to Lee, who returned the ball inside for Francis to issue a quick handoff to Vlad Kondratyev (Nikolayev, Ukraine) under the basket. No shot opened up, forcing Kondratyev to give a quick look outside the other direction, where an open Latham took the pass, dribbled once and took off for the dunk and his first points of the half.

But Bryant would go cold from there, not finding the basket again over the next 4:30 – a scoreless streak that allowed BC to open up a 13-point advantage, 42-29. The Bulldogs would get back on the board with a dunk from Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) at the 4:45 mark – and Gresham would follow it up with a long 3-pointer seconds later – but the Eagles would stay hot from the floor, taking a 51-34 lead into the halftime break.

Lee would finish the session with a frame-high 13 points – already a new career-high mark – and all 13 came in less than a seven-minute stretch over the first 10:10 of the half. The Bulldogs held a slight 13-10 advantage on the glass at the intermission while shooting 51.9 percent from the field.

And while Bryant would stay tight with the home side in the second frame, outscoring the Eagles, 43-42, the Black and Gold would never make up the ground it needed. The Bulldogs wouldn't get any closer than 16 – a margin that came both at the 11:21 mark for Lee's career-high 15th point, and at the final basket of the contest with 40 seconds remaining on a trey from sophomore walk-on Daniel Calandrillo (Leonardo, N.J.).

The Bulldogs pulled down an impressive 15 offensive rebounds in the game and went 8-for-14 from the line – all 14 chances coming in the second half. Bryant players put up 29 attempts from long range, connecting on 11, while BC shot a stellar 56.5 percent (13-of-23) from 3-point land. The Eagles scored 22 points off 17 Bryant turnovers on the day, while giving the ball away just five times for eight Bulldog points.

Bryant returns to the hardwood for one last contest before breaking for the holiday, as the Bulldogs travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on the University of Michigan Wolverines Thursday, Dec. 23. Tipoff is slated for 6:00 p.m. EST.