Bryant looks to avenge loss Monday vs. SHU

BULLDOGS LOOK TO EVEN SEASON SERIES AGAINST PIONEERS MONDAY AT 7 P.M.

FULL GAME NOTES
Watch: NECfrontrow.com
Listen: WOON 1240 AM
Live Stats: bryantbulldogs.com
Follow along on Twitter: @BryantGameday 

THE PARTICULARS
Despite Winter Storm Nemo changing the game time twice, the Bulldogs will get the chance to avenge their Jan. 24 road loss to Sacred Heart Monday night when the Pioneers come to the Chace Athletic Center for the final matchup of the regular season between the sides. In season's the first meeting in Fairfield, Conn., Sacred Heart snapped Bryant's Division I-record eight-game winning streak and handed the Black and Gold their first Northeast Conference loss of 2012-13. Bryant enters the game looking to extend its current three-game winning streak, as the league slate turns over for the first set of yearly rematches. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m., and the tilt can be seen LIVE on NECfrontrow.com.

THE SERIES
The Bulldogs have matched up against the Pioneers more than any other team in the Northeast Conference with the exception of Quinnipiac, and Sacred Heart holds a 16-9 advantage in an all-time series that dates back to the 1965-66 season. Sacred Heart and Bryant first faced off in the programs' Division II days, where 16 of the 25 contests between these sides took place. In nine Division I meetings, Bryant has won only once, a 72-59 victory on the road January 15, 2011, and the Bulldogs have never topped the Pioneers at home in the Division I era. The Pioneers are the winners of the last four in the all-time series, including an 87-76 victory less than a month ago that snapped the Bulldogs' eight-game winning streak and handed Bryant its first league loss of the year.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Sacred Heart will try to put a stop to a second Bryant winning streak Sunday when it visits the Chace Athletic Center, led by the NEC's active career scoring leader and 2012-13 top pointgetter Shane Gibson (24.5 ppg in NEC play). Gibson averages 20.4 points per game on the year as a whole with a .430 field goal percentage that is almost as accurate from beyond the arc (.415). Louis Montes, who went a perfect 8-for-8 from the field against the Bulldogs on Jan. 24, averages 14.0 points per outing and paces the team on the glass with 6.3 rebounds per game. Nick Greenbacker's 23 blocks lead the Pioneers, while Steve Glowiak (11.0 ppg) has 34 steals and averages 2.4 triples per game despite dropping in five last time out against Bryant. As a team, the Pioneers are shooting at a 44.5 percent clip with a .357 mark from long range. Sacred Heart is currently tied for third place in the NEC standings, just two games back on the Bulldogs with a 7-4 league mark.

LAST TIME AGAINST SACRED HEART (January 24, 2013)
Sacred Heart put up seven blocks and posted a pair of 20-point scorers to hand Bryant its first NEC loss of the season and first defeat since Dec. 10, 87-76, less than a month ago at the William H. Pitt Center in Fairfield, Conn.

Sophomore guard Dyami Starks scored a game-best 28 points off a career-high 10 field goals including five 3-pointers, finishing the game one point shy of his career high. He was one of three double-figure scorers for the Bulldogs, who shot 49.2 percent from the floor but allowed the Pioneers to convert at a 60 percent clip from the field to snap Bryant's eight-game winning streak. Shane Gibson (26 points) and Steve Glowiak (21) were on fire from beyond the arc all night, combining for a 9-of-19 mark to lead Sacred Heart to a 45.5 percent shooting clip from long range. Gibson also went 6-for-6 from the line and was one of three Pioneers with eight buckets on the night, including a perfect 8-for-8 performance from forward Louis Montes (16 points).

The breakneck pace of the game favored a Pioneer side that was quick in transition and strong down low, thanks in part to one of the best passers in the league in Phil Gaetano (11 assists). The Pioneers dominated the Bulldogs on the glass, outrebounding the Black and Gold, 37-23, and scoring 18 second-chance points off 12 offensive boards.

After a fast-paced first half that saw five ties and two lead changes, the Pioneers would open the second half on a 13-2 run, extending their five-point halftime lead to 13 points, 57-44, less than five minutes in. Sacred Heart would continue to up its lead, taking a 17-point advantage at the 11:34 mark off another Glowiak triple, before the Bulldogs responded with the next six points to pull back within 11, 67-56, with 9:10 to play. But another 12-3 Pioneer run put the game all but out of reach, as the home team took a 20-point, 79-59, advantage with less than six to play. Bryant would make up some ground from there, scoring eight points during a 3:21 Pioneer dry streak to narrow the deficit to 79-67, but the Bulldogs would run out of time, forced to send the hosts to the line where they got what was necessary to secure the 87-76 victory.

BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The Bulldogs are 9-2 against the Northeast Conference in 2012-13 with a 24-55 record against current league members since joining the Division I ranks. All-time against current NEC schools, the Bulldog basketball program is 52-109 (.323), having most frequently faced off against former Northeast-10 Conference (DII) member Quinnipiac (18-42).

QUICK HITS
» Finding Nemo: He wasn't hard to find this time around, as Monday night's game will tip off 51 hours after its originally scheduled start time due to the winter storm.
» Bulldogs Headline NCAA's DI Men's Basketball Most Improved Team List: With a 16-6 overall record entering the final stretch of the regular season, Bryant currently boasts an impressive 18-game difference from last season (2-28) to this one. Next on the list is Towson, with a 15.5-game differential, and the NCAA Division I record for Most Improved Team from one season to the next stands at 17 games, set by Mercer in 2002-03 and UTEP in 2003-04. Last season's most improved teams — Manhattan and Nevada — sported a 13.5-game turnaround at season's end.
» Tremendous Turnaround: The NCAA equation for most improved also takes number of losses into consideration, but Bryant remains the most improved team in the nation when it comes to pure win turnaround as well. The Bulldogs currently boast 14 more wins in 2012-13 than it had a season ago, two more than the next best team on the list (Towson, 12).
» Going Streaking: With Thursday's victory, the Bulldogs are back on a winning streak (three straight), their first since Sacred Heart snapped the team's eight-game run back on January 24.
» Another One Bites the Dust: The Bulldogs saw yet another Division I program record fall Thursday night against St. Francis Brooklyn, as the career-high 13 assists dished out by senior Frankie Dobbs are the most single-game helpers in the DI era. 
» Frankly Speaking: Fifth-year senior point guard Frankie Dobbs set a new career-high for the second-consecutive game Thursday. At home against the Terriers, he handed out a personal-best 13 assists, while last Saturday at Monmouth, Dobbs posted a game- and career-high 27 points off 6-of-9 shooting and an 11-of-13 mark from the free throw line.
» He Shoots, He Scores: Either Dyami Starks, Alex Francis or Frankie Dobbs has scored 25 or more points in each of the last five games.
» TV Land: With national audiences tuned in live via ESPN3, Fox College Sports and Cox, the Bulldogs earned their third TV victory of the year Thursday with an 84-77 topping of St. Francis Brooklyn at home. The game was the team's fifth televised contest in 2012-13 (at Indiana, at Providence, at Central Connecticut and at FDU), and Bryant is 3-2 in TV games this year.
» Winning Ways: Bryant's 16th win of the season, 84-77, Thursday night guarantees the Bulldogs a winning record in their first season of NCAA Division I eligibility.
» Movin' On Up: The Bulldogs have now been ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 for six-straight weeks, ranked No. 21 entering this week's action. Bryant cracked the prestigious list for the first time in program history on Dec. 31 at No. 25, then spent two weeks at No. 21 and a week at No. 17 before falling to No. 22 last week.
» You Can Call Me Al: Junior forward Alex Francis earned his second Northeast Conference Player of the Week honor of the season this week, marking the fifth such accolade for a Bryant player in 2012-13 after the team missed out on receiving the award at any point throughout the previous three campaigns. Sophomore Dyami Starks has also won it twice this year, with senior Frankie Dobbs taking the award home once.
» 15 and Counting: The Bulldogs keep improving on their Division I single-season wins record, picking up their 16th victory of the year at home against St. Francis Brooklyn Thurday night. Bryant has now won more games this season than in the last three campaigns combined (12). The Bulldogs entered the 2012-13 season with just 20 wins in their brief Division I history. 

DOUBLE DARE
Senior point guard Frankie Dobbs picked up his third-career double-double but the first of his 2012-13 season Thursday night with a 12-point, career-high 13-assist effort. It is the second time he has used assists as half of a double-double performance, dishing out 10 assists with 14 points at Columbia Dec. 11, 2010 in a game he played against current teammate Dyami Starks. With the career-best number, Dobbs vaulted up the nation's rankings for assists per game, going from 95th last week to 71st entering Sunday's matchup. The Bulldogs have now seen double-doubles recorded in the last two games after junior forward Alex Francis picked up his fifth of the year (21st career) Feb. 2 at Monmouth (15 points, 11 rebounds).

HALF AND HALF
Dyami Starks's 25-point second-half performance Thursday night was the fourth time this season the sophomore shooter has finished a game with double-digit points despite being held scoreless in one frame. It was the second time this season Starks has been held scoreless in one half just to score 25 in the other, as well. Back on Dec. 8 at home against Binghamton, the guard scored 25 first-half points (9-11, 6-7 from 3-point land) but wouldn't get another after the break, going 0-for-3 from the field in the final 20 minutes. Thursday against St. Francis Brooklyn, Starks was 0-for-5 at halftime before shooting a lights-out 9-of-10 (5-of-6 from deep) in the second stanza to finish with a game-high 25 points.

YOU SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD
The 13 assists dished out by senior Frankie Dobbs Thursday night marked the eighth new Division I record set in 2012-13 and the 10th DI mark to be either matched or broken this year, with both team and individual records falling away nearly every time Bryant takes the court. Other single-game DI records to fall this season include team points (103), team assists (24), team field goal percentage (.607), team free throw percentage (.905), team 3-point percentage (.632), individual field goal percentage (.917, Alex Francis vs. Mount St. Mary's) and individual rebounds (18, Francis at Central Connecticut). Sophomore Dyami Starks has tied two more this season — 3-pointers in a game (7 at Robert Morris) and single-game 3-point percentage (.857 vs. Binghamton) — while the team's 63.2 percent shooting from long range also set an all-time program mark. Starks needs just three more trifectas to set the single-season DI record in that category, while Bryant as a team needs just 22 more free throws makes to break that current DI season mark.

TWENTY SOMETHINGS
Three Bulldogs have combined to record 20 or more points in a game 20 times this season, most recently Thursday night against St. Francis Brooklyn. Sophomore Dyami Starks leads the way with 10 such outings, while junior Alex Francis has seven, including two in the last three games. Senior Frankie Dobbs has chipped in three this year, including a career-high 27 points in a win over Monmouth Feb. 2. Two players have recorded 20+ points in the same contest four times, including Thurday against the Terriers, with Starks (25) and Francis (23) teamming up for the feat. Starks (20) and Francis (21) also paired up at Lehigh Dec. 29, while Starks (29) and Dobbs (26) did so at Robert Morris Jan. 3 and repeated the feat with 20 and 24 points, respectively, at home against Quinnipiac Jan. 10. One of these three players has recorded 25 points or more in each of the last five games, as well.

50/50
For the ninth time this season, the Bulldogs shot better than 50 percent from the floor Thursday night against the Terriers. On the season, Bryant has shot better than 50 percent in both halves six times and converted 50 percent or better from 3-point range four time this season (vs. Binghamton, at Robert Morris, vs. Quinnipiac, vs. Wagner).

TICKET TO RIDE
Single-game and season ticket packages are still available for the 2012-13 men's and women's basketball seasons. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.bryantbulldogs.com/tickets or by calling the Bryant Athletics Ticket Office at 401-519-TIXX.

CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE GAME?
Bryant University Athletics and the Northeast Conference have partnered with Pack Network to create NEC Front Row, the home for all NEC men's and women's basketball broadcasts in 2012-13. NEC Front Row brings viewers an industry-leading video streaming solution for more than 100 Bryant University home contests during the 2012-13 athletic seasons, including live, free-of-charge broadcasts of all 15 Bulldog home men's basketball games. Live event productions include multiple camera angles, an on-screen scoreboard and state-of-the-art graphics. Visit www.necfrontrow.com for more information and a schedule of events.

BRYANT HOOPS ON WOON RADIO
For the fifth-consecutive season, all Bryant University basketball home games and select road contests can be heard LIVE on WOON 1240 AM. Veteran sportscaster Jon Wallach of 98.5 FM The Sports Hub Boston returns to call the action as the voice of the Bulldogs, alongside color analyst Tristan Hobbes.

UP NEXT
Bryant embarks on its last multigame road trip of the season, taking on Mount St. Mary's at home Thursday night (7 p.m.) before traveling to Staten Island to face Wagner Saturday (4 p.m.). Both contests are rematch games from earlier this season.