BULLDOGS WELCOME WAGNER TO CHACE ATHLETIC CENTER TONIGHT AT 7 P.M.

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SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's basketball team opens up its second-straight weekend of home games Thursday night, as the Bulldogs play host to Northeast Conference rival Wagner College at the Chace Athletic Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. The Bulldogs (6-14, 4-4 NEC) can be heard live locally on WOON 1240AM or online at www.bryantbulldogs.com and a live webcast can be seen at www.bryantbulldogs.tv.

THE SERIES
Game Three in this in-league rivalry could shape up to be a heated one, as Thursday's contest marks the first time Bryant and Wagner have met since the Bulldogs took a last-second 53-51 win over the Seahawks on a pair of Raphael Jordan free throws with 0.8 seconds remaining at the Spiro Sports Center Feb. 18, 2010 in Staten Island. The all-time series between the two programs is knotted at 1-1 entering tonight's game, with the Black and Gold falling to the Seahawks, 72-60, in the only other meeting back on Feb. 12, 2009 in Smithfield, R.I.

LAST TIME AGAINST WAGNER
Bryant's last-second 53-51 win was the Bulldogs' only victory of the 2009-10 season. Vlad Kondratyev scored a game-high 14 points on perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the field while Raphael Jordan chipped in eight, including the pair of game-winning free throws to break a 51-51 tie with 0.8 seconds left in regulation. Josh Thompson and Chris Martin paced the home side with 12 points apiece.

SCOUTING THE SEAHAWKS
Tyler Murray and reigning NEC Rookie of the Week Latif Rivers lead Wagner on the year, averaging 17.4 and 14.2 points per game, respectively. Murray shoots an impressive 45.6 percent from the field and even better from long range (.482) and paces the Seahawks with 25 steals. He is second on the team in rebounds (4.7 rpg) and assists (61) and averages a team-leading 37.3 minutes per outing. Rivers paces the team from the free throw line, connecting on 93.9 percent of his chances and has dished out 51 assists with nine blocks on the season. Orlando Parker paces Wagner from the field with a 52.2 percent shooting rate and also leads the side on the glass, pulling down 4.8 rebounds per contest while adding 12 blocks. Naofall Folahan has a remarkable 32 rejections on the year, and as a team, the Seahawks shoot 43.1 percent from the floor and a shade under 40 percent from beyond the arc. Wagner enters the game with a 9-10 overall record.

BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The Bulldogs enter Thursday's contest with an even 4-4 record in NEC contests this season after seeing the team's four-game winning streak snapped by Monmouth in its last outing. Bryant has gone 11-29 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 NEC members, the Bulldog basketball program is 39-83, having most frequently faced off against former Northeast-10 Conference (DII) member Quinnipiac (17-39).

COMMON DENOMINATOR
Outside Northeast Conference competition, Bryant and Wagner have faced off against just two common opponent this season. Both squads have taken on Lehigh University (Patriot League) and Columbia (Ivy League) in 2010-11, with the NEC going 0-4 in the bouts. The Seahawks took on Lehigh in their second game of the season, suffering a  73-57 loss (Bryant fell, 88-68, on Nov. 28) and fell to the Lions, 77-71, on the road just four days before the Bulldogs dropped a 76-72 decision at Columbia.

LAST TIME OUT
Despite 26-point performances from Cecil Gresham and rookie Matt Lee and a game-tying 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds left in regulation by Raphael Jordan, the Bryant University men's basketball team saw its longest winning streak of its brief Division I history come to an end Saturday, as visiting Monmouth escaped with an 81-76 overtime victory in Northeast Conference at the Chace Athletic Center.

Bryant, who came into the game the winner of four in a row following a thrilling victory Thursday over Fairleigh Dickinson, looked sharp early against the Hawks, shooting well from the perimeter and getting a strong game from Gresham off the bench.

The Bulldogs made 10 treys in the first half and finished the game with a school-record 17 trifectas, as Gresham and Lee combined for 31 of Bryant's 38 first-half points and combined for nine of Bryant's 10 threes in the frame to give the Bulldogs a 38-33 lead at the break. Lee would finish the game with a career-high 26 points, eclipsing his 19 points scored at the University of Michigan in December, and drilled a career-best six 3-pointers in the contest. Gresham went 6-for-7 shooting from the floor in the opening stanza to pace the Bulldogs to 59.1 percent shooting from the field in the first half.

In the second frame, the Bulldogs opened up a 56-49 edge following a three from freshman Corey Maynard with eight minutes left. But Monmouth would not let the Bulldogs run away with it, as the Hawks continued to hit several big 3-pointers and hit the boards hard on the offensive end to pull to 58-57 with just over five minutes to go.

A nearly five-minute long cold spell by the Bulldogs on offense let the Hawks pull out in front, 67-61, following a corner three from Mike Myers-Keitt and a free throw by Ed Waite, but then it was the Bulldogs' turn to chip away, getting a nice putback from Maynard underneath. Following a long-range three from Lee, Maynard connected once again with a triple from the corner and quickly brought Bryant back to within a point, 70-69, with 18.8 seconds remaining in regulation.

Monmouth's Meyers-Keitt would hit a pair of free throws to give the visitors a 72-69 lead. With 17 seconds left, the Bulldogs worked the ball around the perimeter patiently to Frankie Dobbs, who eventually dished the ball off to a wide-open Jordan on the baseline. The sophomore guard drained the game-tying 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds left, forcing overtime.

In the extra period, the Bulldogs led briefly, 76-74, after a coast-to-coast bucket by Jordan following a Papa Lo rebound, but a three from Jesse Steele and four free throws by Waite in the closing seconds helped seal the win for Monmouth. Steele led the Hawks with 19 points, including five 3-pointers.

MAKING HISTORY
Despite the loss, the Bulldogs set a new all-time program record Saturday against the Hawks, connecting for an impressive 17 trifectas for a new No. 1 on the single-game 3-pointers made list. The mark eclipsed the previous record — a record dating back to a 78-76 win over Bridgeport on Nov. 19, 2005 — by just a single 3-pointer to make program history and is tied as the sixth-most 3-pointers made in a game in Division I this season. Bryant shot 40.5 percent from beyond the arc in the game, firing off a season-high 42 attempts from long range.

UNBE-LEE-VABLE
Rookie Matt Lee scored a career-high and game-best 26 points Saturday against Monmouth, eclipsing his previous personal best of 19 points, recorded Dec. 23 at the University of Michigan. Against the Hawks, the frosh marksman 10-of-16 from the field and 6-of-12 from 3-point land in just 23 minutes of action, also dishing out the assist on Raphael Jordan's game-tying three that send the game into overtime. Lee set four new career marks on the day: points (26), field goals made (10), 3-point field goals made (6) and 3-point field goals attempted (12). The game was Lee's first-career 20-point outing and his 26 points are tied for the second most in a game for a Bulldog this season.

TOPPING OUT
Senior Cecil Gresham echoed Lee's game-high 26-point performance Saturday, scoring the mark off 9-of-16 shooting and a remarkable 7-of-12 clip from downtown. Gresham now owns three of the season's top-five single-game highs, including the top two (28 points at FDU Dec. 2; 26 vs. Monmouth Jan. 22), has three 20-point games on the season and has 12 on his storied career. The seven trifectas Gresham dropped in Saturday were a season best and tied him with sophomore Frankie Dobbs for the most threes in a game this season.

FRANK-INCENSED
Sophomore point guard and floor general Frankie Dobbs was more than impressive in the Bulldogs' 74-71 victory over the Knights Thursday at the Chace Athletic Center and continued that type of play Saturday against Monmouth, displaying a different facet of his game. Dobbs vaulted the team to its fourth-straight win Thursday with a 70 percent shooting mark (7-of-10), including a remarkable 7-of-9 clip from beyond the arc for a career-high and game-best 25 points, draining a deep trey from the left side with 2.4 seconds remaining on the clock to break a 71-71 tie and secure the three-point victory. Saturday against the Hawks, Dobbs was again a powerful floor presence, but not from the shooting lanes. Instead, the sophomore dished out assist after assist — 10 in total — tying his career high. The Bulldogs would record 19 assists in total on the afternoon, a new season high. 

BRYANT MOVES TO 19TH IN THREES PER GAME
The Bulldogs' 17-trey performance Saturday went a long way in vaulting them up the national rankings. Entering Saturday's game tied for 32nd, the Bulldogs jump 13 spots up the ladder to No. 19, averaging 8.60 made 3-pointers per game entering Thursday's action. Bryant also ranks atop the NEC standings in the category, averaging more than 1.5 extra treys per game than its closest NEC competitor. The Bulldogs have two players in the conference's top-10 as individuals (Frankie Dobbs, 3rd; Cecil Gresham, 4th) and get nearly 39 percent of their total team scoring from beyond the arc. Dobbs, Gresham and rookie Matt Lee each have more than 33 trifectas on the year and both Dobbs and Gresham average in the top-10 in 3-point field goal percentage (5th and 7th, respectively) in the NEC. As a team, Bryant ranks second in the league in the category, converting from beyond the arc at a 37.3 percent clip.

UP NEXT
Bryant rounds out its current four-game homestand Saturday afternoon with a 4:00 p.m. bout against Mount St. Mary's at the Chace Athletic Center. The contest will be the second half of a men's/women's NEC doubleheader.