BULLDOGS LOOK FOR SEASON SWEEP AGAINST QUINNIPIAC THURSDAY NIGHT (7 P.M.), FOLLOW INSIDE WITH LIVE BLOG

Game Notes/Follow Cover It Live Blog 

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's basketball team welcomes Northeast Conference Rival Quinnipiac University to the Chace Athletic Center Thursday night (7 p.m.). Thursday's game will be aired on Cox Sports in Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 12 p.m. with Don Coyne performing play-by-play and Christina Batastini providing in-game analysis.

Bryant looks to win back-to-back games after knocking off Central Connecticut, 85-80, in overtime Saturday afternoon to set a new single-season program record for wins over Northeast Conference opponents (7). The Bulldogs host the Bobcats in the teams' second meeting of the season and will try to stay perfect against the Blue and Yellow in the 2010-11 campaign. Bryant can guarantee itself a winning league record at home with a win Thursday and will try to move above .500 in conference play for the first time since Jan. 20.

THE SERIES

Bryant has faced off against the Bobcats more than any other team in the Northeast Conference. Both programs have histories in the Division II ranks and have faced off frequently at both levels of NCAA competition. The Bulldogs have matched up against Quinnipiac 56 times in the history of the two programs, as Bryant and Quinnipiac shared a league for 10 years as members of the Division II Northeast-10 Conference. The Bobcats, who joined the NE-10 (of which Bryant was a founding member) for the 1987-88 season and stayed in the league until the school's move up to Division I after the 1996-97 campaign, own a 39-17 advantage in the all-time series, all but five of those meetings coming at the DII level. The Bulldogs hold a 3-2 advantage in the Division I era, with Bryant taking the most recent head-to-head, 69-61, on Jan. 13 in Hamden, Conn., after a historical second-half comeback. Despite just five meetings on the DI level, much history has been made between these two programs, highlighted by the Bulldogs' first-ever Division I win, a 59-50 victory over the Bobcats on Nov. 22, 2008. Quinnipiac took a pair of contests back-to-back in 2009-10, topping the Bulldogs at home, 80-66, on Jan. 16 and beating the Black and Gold again just five days later, 84-59, in Hamden, Conn.

LAST TIME AGAINST QUINNIPIAC

After a first half that saw the Bulldogs score just three baskets and shoot an underwhelming 12 percent Jan. 13 at the TD Bank Sports Center, the Bryant University men's basketball team mounted one the most impressive comebacks in Division I and arguably the biggest in program history, overtaking NEC preseason favorite Quinnipiac, 69-61, on the road, despite trailing by 21 points at the half. The Bulldogs used a 31-8 run that stretched nearly the first 10 minutes of the second frame to make up the deficit and take a 46-44 lead en route to a 54-point half — the most points recorded in a single frame in the program's Division I history — and the team would hold on for the nearly unfathomable come-from-behind eight-point win. Bryant more than doubled up host Quinnipiac in second-half action, 54-25, led by 15 points from sophomore guard Frankie Dobbs and 14 from rookie Alex Francis (team-high 8 rebounds), whose game-best 22 points came off 7-of-13 shooting from the field (5-7 in the second frame). The Bulldogs shot a blistering 88.9 percent through the opening nine minutes of the second stanza and finished the half at a 53.8 percent mark (14-of-26).

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS

Quinnipiac enters Thursday night's game the winner of five of its last six outings and currently sits in third place in the Northeast Conference with a 17-8 overall record and a 9-5 league mark. The Bobcats are paced by junior guard James Johnson, who averages 16.4 points and 3.8 assists per outing while leading his team in 3-pointers (62-for-171) and steals (1.6 spg). Rookie forward Ike Azotam is coming off his second rookie of the week honor this season after dropping in 16 points and posting 13 boards en route to a 59-54 victory over Sacred Heart Saturday, as the Bobcats swept the Pioneers in NEC Rivalry Week action. Reigning NEC Player of the Year Justin Rutty, who was sidelined for seven games — including the team's last outing vs. the Bulldogs — due to injury, ranks second on the team with 14.8 points per outing and is first on the squad with 8.9 boards per contest. Picked to win the 2011 Northeast Conference crown in the preseason coaches' poll, the Bobcats lead the league in rebounding offense (42.2 rpg), rebounding margin (+7.9), assists (15.0 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.19).

BRYANT VS. NORTHEAST CONFERENCE

Saturday's victory over Central Connecticut gave Bryant its first overtime win of the season in three tries, as the Bulldogs recorded a program-high seventh win over an NEC opponent with the 85-80 topping. Since joining the Division I ranks, Bryant has gone 14-32 against current Northeast Conference members, with six of those wins coming in the program's inaugural DI season (2008-09) and seven more coming to date in 2010-11. All-time against current NEC members, the Bulldog basketball program is 42-86, having most frequently faced off against former Northeast-10 Conference (DII) member Quinnipiac (18-39).

LAST TIME OUT

Down by one with 58 seconds left in overtime, Cecil Gresham faced up a defender one-on-one and hit a fadeaway bank shot to give the Bryant University men's basketball team the late lead as the Bulldogs went on to top Central Connecticut, 85-80, to wrap up the Northeast Conference's Rivalry Week Saturday afternoon at the Chace Athletic Center.

Bryant led the rival Blue Devils the entire second half and much of the first, but with 19 seconds left in regulation, Central Connecticut would make its move to erase all that, as a Ken Horton putback after an offensive rebound cut the Bulldog advantage to just three, 74-71. Unable to break the press on its next possession, Bryant threw the ball out of bounds with 6.4 seconds to play, setting up the Blue Devils' final chance to tie the game. The turnover allowed Shemik Thompson to race down the court and drill a 3-pointer from the left corner with less than a second left on the clock, tying the game at 74-74 – the closest CCSU had gotten to a lead since the 6:02 mark of the first half – and sending the game into overtime.

After Alex Francis opened overtime with an early basket, Central Connecticut reeled off six-straight points to take the 80-76 lead. Down by four with 1:29 remaining, Frankie Dobbs stepped back and drained a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one and set up Gresham's go-ahead shot. With an 81-80 edge, the Bulldog defense clamped down the rest of the way, as Dobbs drew a pair of fouls and nailed three clutch free throws for the 85-80 victory.

The win avenged a loss to the Blue Devils just three days earlier and marked the program's highest point total in the Division I era. The victory also marked Bryant's first win over CCSU at the DI level and the team's first overtime win in three tries this season.

Individually, Gresham led the way offensively with 27 points and a career-high seven assists. Dobbs added 19 and Corey Maynard chipped in with a career-high 16 points off 6-of-9 shooting. Francis netted 10 points and 11 boards for his seventh double-double of the season and second in as many games. As a team, the Bulldogs shot 50.9 percent off 29-for-57 shooting from the floor.

WORKING OVERTIME

Saturday's win was the first overtime victory for the Bulldogs this season after dropping to back-to-back games to Monmouth and Wagner in extra time in late January. Bryant is now 1-2 on the season in games that extend beyond regulation and is 1-3 in overtime contests since making the jump to DI.

BROKEN RECORDS

Bryant's 85-80 overtime win against Central Connecticut was the program's first victory over the Blue Devils at the Division I level, but even more notably, marked the Bulldogs' highest point output since making the transition to DI, breaking the previous high of 83 points recorded against Monmouth on Feb. 5, 2009. But those weren't the only records achieved in the outing. Sophomore Frankie Dobbs played a career-high 44 minutes in the overtime affair, while Corey Maynard poured in a career-best 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Senior forward Cecil Gresham also recorded a career-high of his own, dishing out an impressive seven assists in the win.

UP NEXT

The Bulldogs will wrap up their 2010-11 home schedule Saturday afternoon, hosting NEC foe Sacred Heart for a 2 p.m. Senior Day matchup. Seniors Cecil Gresham, Barry Latham, Michael Chroney and Papa Lo will be honored in a pre-game ceremony. Saturday's game will be televised live on MSG and tape delayed on Cox Sports in Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut (Sunday at 2 p.m.).