Men wrap up road slate at SFPA Saturday

FULL GAME NOTES
TV: MSG l Root Sports Pittsburgh
Listen: www.sfuathletics.com
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SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team wraps up 2011-12 road action Saturday morning at DeGol Arena, as the Bulldogs take on Saint Francis (PA) for the second time this season. Saturday's game will be broadcast on MSG and Root Sports Pittsburgh as Bryant will look to snap its 12-game losing skid when the bout tips off at 11:30 a.m.

The Bulldogs won the first meeting of the season, 59-56, at the Chace Athletic Center back on January 7 for Bryant's only conference victory of the year so far. The Bulldogs hold a 3-1 series edge in four all-time meetings, but the Black and Gold have topped the Red Flash by a combined margin of just 10 points in the three wins. Saint Francis (PA)'s sole win the series came back on Feb. 11, 2010, when the Red Flash too a 60-34 victory in Smithfield. The Bulldogs have never lost in two appearances at DeGol Arena and look to stay perfect in Saturday's morning start.

Scott Eatherton paces the Saint Francis (PA) offense with 14.5 points per game in 2011-12 as the Red Flash enter the game with a 5-21 overall record and a 4-11 mark in the Northeast Conference. Anthony Ervin also averages double figures at 11.1 points per outing, and he is second on the team on the glass with 3.8 boards per game. Eatherton's 7.3 rebounds per outing sit at the top of the Saint Francis charts, as do his 29 blocks and impressive 63.1 shooting percentage (149-236). Kameron Ritter and Stephon Whyatt pass the ball around to the tune of 69 and 65 assists, respectively, while the Red Flash are shooting 45.8 percent as a team from the floor to average 61 points and 28.3 rebounds per game.

The Bulldogs enter the season's final road contest with a 15-50 record against current Northeast Conference members since joining the Division I ranks. All-time against current conference members, the Bulldog basketball program is 43-104 (.293), having most frequently faced off against former Northeast-10 Conference (DII) member Quinnipiac (18-41). Bryant is 1-14 this season against the NEC, having earned its only league win January 7 against Saturday's opponent, Saint Francis (PA), 59-56.

Outside of fellow Northeast Conference opponents, Bryant and Saint Francis (PA) have matched up against just a single common foe in Lehigh University, with both teams suffering the same fate. The Red Flash traveled to Bethlehem, Pa., to take on the Mountain Hawks Dec. 7 in a 71-50 loss, while the Bulldogs kickstarted their current three-game home stretch with a bout against the Patriot League opponent, falling, 72-55, on New Year's Eve at the Chace Athletic Center.

Trailing by seven points with less than seven minutes to play, the Bryant University men's basketball team used a 10-0 rally to take a lead it would never relinquish, completing a thrilling comeback for the team's first Northeast Conference victory of the season, edging Saint Francis (PA), 59-56, at the Chace Athletic Center.

Two players registered double-digit scoring figures, as sophomore Alex Francis led all players with 23 points while hauling down a team-high eight rebounds, propelling the Bulldogs to their first home win this season and first in their last six tries (an overtime win against CCSU Feb. 12, 2011). The win also snapped a 12-game losing skid for the Black and Gold, who haven't tasted victory since Nov. 12. The Red Flash fell for the fifth-straight contest.

Along with Francis – who recorded his fifth 20-point outing of the season – sophomore Claybrin McMath  helped to guide the home team in a contest that was tight throughout, recording 13 points and five boards. SFU's Scott Eatherton chipped in 15 points and 11 rebounds for the game's lone double-double, while Anthony Ervin (12) and Kameron Ritter (10) rounded out the game's double-figure scorers.

Down seven, 47-40, with 6:18 to play, Bryant sophomore Corey Maynard initiated the Bulldogs' 10-0 comeback run with a made layup, drawing a foul to complete the three-point play. The guard would finish with five points in his first game back since missing the last two due to injury and played 32 minutes in a starting role.

A steal and consequent slam by Francis trimmed SFU's lead to one with 5:34 to go, and moments later a wide-open McMath nailed a trey from the left corner to put Bryant ahead, 48-47. Maynard added another layup at the 4:31 mark to cap off the 10-0 run and push the Bulldogs ahead, 50-47. The final minutes remained tight from that point through the final whistle -- both the Bulldogs and the Red Flash would score nine -- but the three-point advantage was all Bryant needed to hold on and clinch the win.

Still, the Red Flash nearly mounted a comeback of their own in the waning seconds. With eight ticks left in the game, SFU had a chance to tie the score when Stephon Wyatt stepped to the line down by two with a pair of free throws to shoot. But Wyatt made just one of those chances, allowing Bryant to move back ahead by three on back-to-back free throws from Francis for a 59-56 score that would go final.

The Red Flash had one final opportunity to send the game to overtime, but Maynard rejected a last-second 3-point attempt as time expired to send the Bulldogs to their first conference win of the year.

After ice-cold shooting in the first half, both teams shot above 50 percent in the second frame, logging identical 52.2 percent field goal percentages on 12-of-23 shooting clips. On the afternoon, SFU earned a slim edge from the floor, holding a 38.5 percent mark to Bryant's 35.6 percent clip. The Bulldogs also set a new season mark in free throw shooting, finishing the day at 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the stripe.

In the first half, Bryant took control early after both teams were tied at 5-5 at the 13:34 mark, using a 13-6 run to move ahead by seven points with less than eight minutes to go in the frame. The home team would lead by as many as seven points in the half, but the Red Flash clawed back to within three with 57 seconds remaining in the stanza.

Junior Raphael Jordan closed out the half on a positive note, draining his only long ball of the contest to send Bryant into the locker room on top for just the third time this season, 25-19.

Both teams combined for just 16 points in the first 10 minutes of play, with subpar shooting from the field emerging as the theme for the half. The Bulldogs fired at a meager 25 percent clip on 9-of-36 shooting, while the Red Flash weren't much better, logging a 27.6 percent clip on 8-of-29 accuracy from the field. Where the Bulldogs did excel, however, was in second-chance scoring, a theme that carried throughout the game. The Bulldogs held a 12-0 edge in second-chance points in the first half, a margin that would end up 16-2 in Bryant's favor.

>> Smooth Smith... Junior Erick Smith has earned consecutive starts in the last five contests — the first five starts of his career — and Thursday against Robert Morris, the guard added some more career figures, setting new personal marks in rebounds (4), assists (2) and minutes (34).

>> Highs... Bryant set another new season high Thursday with six blocks against the Colonials, just one game after taking a season-best nine steals from Sacred Heart. Freshman Ben Altit recorded five of those stuffs, his second such effort of the year, and now leads the Bulldogs with 33 swats in his rookie campaign.

>> And Lows... But one game after scoring a season-low 46 points last Saturday against Sacred Heart, Bryant tallied just 40 points against RMU for a new season low in the category. Prior to the last two contests, the last time the Bulldogs scored less than 50 points in a game came Feb. 3, 2011 in a 91-38 road loss to Robert Morris. Bryant's 25 turnovers Thursday night were also the most giveaways of the year for the Black and Gold, while the team's just 31.6 percent accuracy from the field bottomed out the season numbers as well.

>> Tip Top: Bryant has won 15 of its 27 opening tips on the 2011-12 season and has scored the first basket on 13 occasions. The Bulldogs have both won the opening tip and scored the first points eight times, including Thursday night at Robert Morris.

>> One is the Loneliest Number: Last Saturday's loss to Sacred Heart also marked the first game this season in which Bryant has had just one player finish with double-digit points. Sophomore Alex Francis posted 16 points as part of his seventh double-double of the year (game-high 10 rebounds).

>> Missing Maynard: The Bulldogs have been without starting guard Corey Maynard in each of the last three contests. The sophomore, who averages 11.4 points per game in 2011-12, has missed a total of eight games this season due to injury.

>> The Ol' Switcheroo: Head coach Tim O'Shea has used a different starting lineup in each of the last seven games. The last time the starting five remained consistent was a three-game stretch from Jan. 21 through Jan. 26.

>> Nearing a Landmark: Sophomore Alex Francis scored his 400th point of the season Feb. 4 against St. Francis (NY) and currently boasts 451 points on the year. Francis eclipsed the 300-point mark on the 2011-12 campaign just two weeks before with his season-high 30 points in a Jan. 21 overtime loss to Quinnipiac and averaged an impressive 19.5 points per game after to pass the 400-point mark just five games later. Can he reach 500 points before the regular season ends Feb. 25? See Hitting the Mark below and check out the numbers.

True freshman Ben Altit had a career game on defense against CCSU Jan. 19 and repeated the performance Thursday at Robert Morris, recording a career-best five blocks in both outings. The rookie is responsible for a team-leading 33 of the Bulldogs' 59 blocks on the year and ranks sixth among all NEC players. He is the top rookie blocker in the league and has posted three or more stuffs in a game on six occasions, five of them on the road.

Sophomore leading scorer Alex Francis passed the 200-point mark in just the team's 12th game this season with a 17-point performance against the University of Arizona on Dec. 22, passed the 300-point mark with 30 points Jan. 21 against Quinnipiac, and Feb. 4 against St. Francis (NY), broke through the 400-point threshold on the year.

Now averaging 16.7 points per game — he has 451 total points on the season and ranks seventh on the league's scoring circuit — the second-year forward is on pace to just pass the 500-point line in 2011-12. Francis must now average 16.3 points per game in the last three games of the year to hit the mark, one he missed by just 57 points last year in his rookie campaign. The last time a Bulldog acheived 500 points or more in a season came back in 2005-06, when John Williams scored 628 to average 20.3 points per game (31 games).

Francis is also just three boards shy of the 200-rebound season mark for the second-consecutive season, and his 7.3 rebounding average ranks ninth in the NEC.