Bulldogs host SHU Monday night at 7 p.m.

BRYANT IN HUNT FOR HOME COURT ADVANTAGE, HOSTS SACRED HEART MONDAY AT 7 P.M.

FULL GAME NOTES
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Live Stats: bryantbulldogs.com
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THE PARTICULARS
Winter Storm Nemo delayed Bryant's rematch against Sacred Heart three times, but Monday night, the Bulldogs will finally get the chance to avenge their Jan. 24 road loss to the Pioneers. Sacred Heart comes to the Chace Athletic Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip and the final matchup of the regular season between the sides. Monday's game marks the first of three-straight home contests for the Black and Gold as they fight to host a Northeast Conference Tournament game after clinching their first Division I playoff berth. The  team rounds out its regular-season slate this week, and all three tilts can be seen LIVE on NECfrontrow.com.

THE SERIES
The Bulldogs have matched up against the Pioneers more than any other team in the NEC with the exception of Quinnipiac, and Sacred Heart holds a 16-9 advantage in a series that dates back to the 1965-66 campaign. 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 DI era. The Pioneers are the winners of the last four in the all-time series, including an 87-76 victory in Fairfield, Conn., in this season's first meeting just over a month ago, when Sacred Heart snapped Bryant's Division I-record eight-game winning streak and handed the Black and Gold their first league loss of 2012-13.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Sacred Heart visits the Chace Athletic Center insearch of a big win to remain in the hunt for one of the two remaining spots in this season's conference tournament, currently tied for seventh on the conference ladder. The Pioneers have some big guns in their corner, most notably the NEC's active career scoring leader and the team's top pointgetter in Shane Gibson. Gibson averages 20.8 points per game as a whole with a .428 field goal percentage that is almost as accurate from beyond the arc (.417). Louis Montes, who went a perfect 8-for-8 from the field against the Bulldogs on Jan. 24, averages 14.2 points per outing and paces the team on the glass with 6.4 rebounds per game. Nick Greenbacker's 28 blocks lead the Pioneers, while Steve Glowiak (10.8 ppg) has 40 steals and averages 2.3 triples per game despite dropping in five last time out against Bryant. As a team, the Pioneers are shooting at a 43.7 percent clip with a .355 mark from long range, but Sacred Heart has dropped four straight dating back to Feb. 14 and, like the Bulldogs, will play its fifth game in the last 12 days Monday night. A win would even SHU's league mark at 8-8 and give the team its 10th victory of the season.

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 10-5 against the Northeast Conference in 2012-13 with a 25-58 record against current league members since joining the Division I ranks. All-time against current NEC schools, the Bulldog basketball program is 53-112 (.321), having most frequently faced off against former Northeast-10 Conference (DII) member Quinnipiac (18-43).

QUICK HITS
» Playoff Picture: Currently in a tie for second place with three games to go in the regular season, Bryant has already clinched a spot in the 2013 NEC Tournament in its first season with Division I postseason eligibility. The Bulldogs are one of six squads that have already secured a place in the eight-team playoff. Bryant is now fighting for home court advantage in the first round and beyond, with the top four seeds hosting quarterfinal matchups.

» Home Sweet Home: The Bulldogs will play the remainder of their regular-season contests at home in front of a friendly crowd, hosting Sacred Heart Monday night (7 p.m.), Robert Morris Thursday night (7 p.m.) and Saint Francis U. next Saturday, March 2 for Senior Day and the regular-season finale (4 p.m.).

» Three of A Kind: With three games left, including this Thursday's showdown with top-seeded Robert Morris, if the Bulldogs were to win out the remainder of their schedule, they could do no worse than claim a share of the NEC Regular-Season Championship.

» Charge to 20: Another landmark achievement the Bulldogs would reach should they win out the regular season would be the 20-win season. Bryant has yet to put together such a campaign in the Division I era, and the last team to do so was the 2006-07 Bulldogs, who finished the year at 21-11. Director of Basketball Operations Chris Burns was a senior on that team and was the Bulldogs' leading scorer (15.8 ppg).

» Saturated Schedule: For both teams, Monday's game is the fifth in the last 12 days thanks to delays from Winter Storm Nemo. By the end of the regular season this coming Saturday, the Bulldogs will have played seven games in a 17-day span.

» Season Almanac: Prior to Saturday's 69-58 loss at Quinnipiac, the last time the Bulldogs scored less than 70 points in a game was Jan. 12 at Central Connecticut (69). The last time the Black and Gold scored less than 60 points? Dec. 10 at Navy (59).

» Highs and Lows: Bryant recorded both its highest-scoring half and lowest-scoring half of the season against the same opponent. The Bulldogs dropped 61 second-half points on Quinnipiac at the Chace Athletic Center back on Jan. 10, but Saturday in Hamden, Conn., the Bobcats limited the Black and Gold to a season-low 19 points in the opening stanza.

» Making NEC History: With last Thursday's 88-67 win over Central Connecticut, Bryant tied the Northeast Conference record for win improvement from one year to the next (15 games). Coincidentally, the Bulldogs now share the record already held by the Blue Devils, who went from four wins in 1997-98 to 19 in 1998-99 to set the current mark. The Bulldogs will have three more chances to break that record, though, starting with Monday's game against the Pioneers.

» Making NEC History, Part II: Limiting the most-improved scope to just conference play, Bryant's nine-game jump now ranks second in the 32-year league history behind LIU Brooklyn, who went from five NEC wins to 15 league victories en route to the NEC title in 1997. Bryant must win two of the next three to break that current record.

» 500: With 457 total points and averaging 17.6 points per game entering this weekend's action, sophomore Dyami Starks is on pace to surpass 500 points on the 2012-13 campaign. If he does hit the mark, it would make him the second Bulldog in as many years to finish the season with over 500 points, after teammate and current junior Alex Francis scored 509 in 2011-12. To accomplish the feat again in this season, Francis will have to average 14.8 points per game over the next four guaranteed games (currently at 441). No other Bulldog has scored 500 points in a season in the Division I era.

» Bulldogs Headline NCAA's DI Men's Basketball Most Improved Team List: With a 17-9 overall record entering the final stretch of the regular season, Bryant currently boasts an impressive 17-game difference from last season (2-28) to this one. Next on the list is Towson, with a 16.5-game differential. 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 15 more wins in 2012-13 than it had a season ago.

» He Shoots, He Scores: Saturday's loss snapped Bryant's streak of eight-straight games in which the Bulldogs have gotten a 20-point scorer. During the course of the current streak, Bryant also saw six-straight contests in which one of Starks, Alex Francis or Frankie Dobbs scored 25 points or more.

» 17 and Counting: The Bulldogs keep improving on their Division I single-season wins record, picking up their 17th victory of the year at home against Central Connecticut Feb. 21. 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 total wins in their brief Division I history.

DUNK COUNT
As a team, the Bulldogs have thrown down 30 dunks in 26 games this season, nearly all of them a product of the play of junior forward Alex Francis. Francis has recorded at least one slam in 16 games in 2012-13, totaling 26 dunks in all. He has seven multi-dunk games, including four at home against Dartmouth and three more against Army, and nine of his jams have come on the road, including one in the season opener at No. 1 Indiana. Senior forward Vlad Kondratyev has three of his own on the year, two coming against Central Connecticut Feb. 21, while sophomore Joe O'Shea had one of his own against the Black Knights.

MILESTONE WATCH
Sophomore Joe O'Shea collected his 100th-career rebound at Quinnipiac Saturday, while junior guard Corey Maynard picked up his 300th-career rebound Thursday night against Central Connecticut and needs just 11 more assists to hit the 250 mark. Maynard is also five points shy of 600 on his career and needs six 3-pointers to reach 100. Senior point guard Frankie Dobbs has 99 steals on his career, is 36 assists shy of 500 all time, and needs just 30 points for 1200 on his career. Sophomore transfer Dyami Starks surpassed the 500-point mark on his career last Saturday at Wagner (545) and needs only 43 points for 500 on the season. He is also just three trifetas short of 100 on his career. Junior forward Alex Francis needs seven points for 1400 on his career and has a chance to reach 1500-career points this season if the Bulldogs make a postseason run (1393). He also needs just 20 more rebounds to hit 700 on his three-year career.

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 plays at home twice more this week, hosting bouts against current league leader Robert Morris Thursday (7 p.m.) and Saint Francis U. Saturday in the regular-season finale and 2013 Senior Day (4 p.m.).