BULLDOGS LOOK TO SCORE IN THE WIN COLUMN SATURDAY; HOST ST. FRANCIS (NY) AT 4 P.M.

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SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team will play host to Northeast Conference foe St. Francis (NY) at the Chace Athletic Center in the second half of a Saturday doubleheader (4 p.m.). Bryant is in search of its first conference win of the year and looks to move to 2-4 at home with a win over the Terriers.

THE SERIES
This is the fourth meeting all-time between the Bulldogs and the Terriers, and St. Francis holds a 3-0 edge in the series. The last time these teams met was on February 25, 2010 in the second to last game of the season. A 35-26 halftime lead for Bryant melted away in the final 20 minutes, as the Terriers rallied late to knot the game at 52-52 and force overtime at the Chace Athletic Center. But in the extra frame, St. Francis outscored the home side, 17-8, to pull away for the victory, 69-60. Now-sophomore Raphael Jordan recorded the only double-double of his career with 20 points and 11 rebounds while going 10-of-11 from the free throw line. He led three Bulldogs with double-digit scoring while the team combined for seven blocks, led by three from Papa Lo. It was the second-consecutive close outing between the two squads, as Bryant fell in Brooklyn, 54-48, earlier that season despite holding a 48-45 edge entering the final two minutes of action.

SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
St. Francis looks to avoid its first losing streak of the season, having dropped its last two contests on the road to Hartford (82-74) and Central Connecticut (61-43). The Terriers are 2-1 in Northeast Conference play and are led on the year by senior Akeem Bennett's 15.4 points per game — a number that rises to 18.7 in conference action. Bennett is also near the top of the team on the glass, averaging 6.0 rebounds per outing, and shoots at a 44.9 percent clip from the floor. Ricky Cadell and Akeem Johnson — the team leader on the boards with 6.3 per game — also chip in double figures in the scoring column, averaging 14.9 and 11.3 points per game, respectively. Dre Calloway, one of four 13-game starters for first-year head coach Glenn Braica, has dished out a team-leading 51 assists entering Saturday's contest, but it is Bennett who paces the team in steals with an impressive 34 on the season. Matt Milk has put up 14 blocks to lead the Terriers in the category in 2010-11.

BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
This is the Bulldogs' fourth game against their home conference in 2010-11 and marks the second-straight NEC matchup at the Chace Athletic Center this season. Bryant has gone 7-28 against current Northeast Conference members since joining the Division I ranks, with six of those wins coming in the program's inaugural DI season in 2008-09. All-time against current Northeast Conference members, the Bulldog basketball program is 35-80, having most frequently faced off against former Northeast-10 Conference (DII) member Quinnipiac (16-37).

COMMON DENOMINATOR
Outside Northeast Conference foes, Bryant and St. Francis have faced off against a pair of common opponents this season. Both squads have taken on Boston College and Brown in 2010-11, with the NEC teams going a combined 0-4. The Terriers opened their season at Boston College, falling, 79-49, back on Nov. 12, while Bryant dropped a 93-77 decision to the Eagles on Dec. 19, also at Conte Forum. St. Francis came to Rhode Island to play Brown less than two weeks later to suffer a 67-63 setback on Nov. 24, while the Bulldogs fell to their intrastate rival, 84-71, on New Year's Eve in the team's final non-conference matchup of the year.

LAST TIME OUT
Sophomore Vlad Kondratyev and freshman Alex Francis each put up double-double performances Thursday night, but the Bryant University men's basketball team couldn't keep up with Long Island in its Northeast Conference home opener as the Bulldogs fell, 75-55, at the Chace Athletic Center.

Kondratyev finished the game with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds while Francis logged a game-high 18 points and grabbed 10 boards in the contest. The accomplishment marked the first time two Bulldogs have recorded double-doubles in the same game in the Division I era and were the fifth and sixth such performances of the 2010-11 season. Sophomore Raphael Jordan added nine points for the Bulldogs, while junior Papa Lo registered a season-best and game-high four blocks.

Julian Boyd recorded a double-double of his own for the Blackbirds with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Long Island had a total of four players reach double-digit scoring. The Blackbirds shot 43.7 percent from the floor while the home squad shot 36.9 percent overall. As a team, Bryant outrebounded Long Island on the day, 46-45.

Both teams were slow out of the gate until David Hicks hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open up the scoring for the Blackbirds. While Long Island shot from outside, Bryant came right back down low, starting with an on offensive rebound and putback by Kondratyev, while Barry Latham followed with a jumper to cut LIU's lead to 8-4.

The Blackbirds began to make more shots over the course of the half but the Bulldogs hung tough on the glass. That effort paid off at the 10:30 mark, when Francis and Jordan secured a series of offensive boards, ending with a strong drive to the basket by Jordan to finish.

Despite Bryant's strength on the boards, Long Island continued to find the basket, as a Michael Culpo trey capped off a 15-2 run over eight minutes of action. The Bulldogs kept up the pressure, however, as Kondratyev followed a hard-driving layup with a shot from beyond the arc, pulling Bryant within 14 points, 25-11, with 5:46 to go in the frame. Francis and Frankie Dobbs also contributed to the scoring efforts over the final minutes of the half, but the Blackbirds would go into the halftime on top, 41-22.

At halftime, Kondratyev led the Bulldogs with 10 points and nine rebounds while Jamal Olasewere and Hicks paced the Blackbirds with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Lo made his presence known as well with three blocked shots for Bryant. Long Island shot 7-for-18 on 3-point attempts in the opening half.

Francis was the main scoring option for the Bulldogs at the start of the second session, as the freshman hit a trio of layups in the opening four minutes to help chip away at the Blackbird lead. While Francis took care of the scoring, Kondratyev handled the rebounding and secured his first career double-double with a board early in the stanza.

A few minutes later, Francis hit a deep jumper and the freshman came back in the next possession to field an impressive pass from Dobbs down low and finished with an easy layup. Francis scored 12 of the Bulldogs' first 15 points in the half to pull the home side within 15 points, 52-37, at the 12-minute mark, but Long Island answered with 13-2 run and never looked back as the Blackbirds went on to secure the 75-55 victory.

Despite the loss, Bryant kept pace with its opponent through the final 20 minutes, scoring just a single point less, 34-33, while shooting 45.2 percent to LIU's 43.8 percent.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE
The double-double efforts from sophomore Vlad Kondratyev (10 points, 13 rebounds) and freshman Alex Francis (18p, 10r) Thursday against LIU marked the first time in the program's Division I history that the team has seen two such efforts in the same contest. The Bulldogs now have six double-doubles from three different players so far in the 2010-11 campaign, but four of them belong to Francis, who has two in the last three outings. The highly touted rookie posted back-to-back double-double performances in his first two collegiate contests, becoming the first NEC freshman to begin his career with back-to-back double-doubles since November of 1998. Francis added his third on Dec. 31 against intrastate rival Brown, putting 21 points and a career-high 13 rebounds despite the loss. Kondratyev's outing against the Blackbirds marked the first double-double of his career as well as a career-high 13 rebounds, while sophomore point guard Frankie Dobbs recorded the remaining double-double, the first of his career as well, coming with 14 points and a career-best 10 assists at Columbia on Dec. 11.

UP NEXT
The Black and Gold return to the road for their next two contests, both Northeast Conference matchups, and will take on preseason favorite Quinnipiac on Thursday, January 13 at 7:00 p.m. Bryant returns to Connecticut two days later, traveling to Fairfield to face off against Sacred Heart at 3:30 p.m.