Francis, Starks pace victory over Yale, 72-64

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Senior forward Alex Francis (Harlem, N.Y.) and junior guard Dyami Starks (Duluth, Minn.) each posted a game-high 22 points while the former also pulled in a contest-best seven boards to lead the Bryant University men's basketball team to a 72-64 road victory over Yale Wednesday night at John J. Lee Amphitheater.

The Bulldogs (6-2) extend their winning streak to four with the victory and will finish the 2013-14 season with a 3-1 record against Ivy League opponents. The victory also gives Bryant its first over Yale (4-4) since the first meeting of the series back in January of 2009.

Francis's 22 points tied his season best for the third time in 2013-14, while classmate and starting point guard Corey Maynard (Adelaide, Australia) also contributed double-figure points with 14, dishing out eight assists with three steals to compliment a complete-game performance. Yale was paced by 17 points from Javier Duren and 10 more from leading scorer Justin Sears.

Bryant opened the game in a six-point hole thanks to an 0-for-3 start from the field, but an 8-0 run fueled by Francis and capped off by a huge block from rookie Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) (4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal) made up for the slow start and gave the visitors their first edge of the night.

The Bulldogs would increase that lead to 14-10 after consecutive 3-pointers from Starks and Maynard six minutes into the half, but neither team would take a larger margin for the remainder of the stanza in a back-and-forth frame that saw little production from either side.

The Black and Gold saw two Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) free throws break up a scoring drought of more than five minutes with just over three to play before the intermission, and the teams scored just a combined six points over a seven-minute stretch leading up to the final 90 seconds of the frame. In the final 90, though, Yale would come alive, outscoring its visitors, 7-4, for a 31-27 halftime advantage.

The Bulldogs opened the second half on a 15-4 run to get out in front by seven, 42-35, within the first six minutes, a stretch that was highlighted by seven points from Maynard and six more from Starks. Both sides would ignite from there, but the margin would stay fairly constant until Bryant took the first double-digit lead of the night midway through the session. The lead came when Francis followed up a deep Starks trey with a thundering breakaway dunk for a 55-44 advantage with 10:18 left in the contest.

The double-digit lead wouldn't last long, however, and four Bryant turnovers over just more than three minutes cut the deficit to only two, 57-55, with 6:48 showing on the clock.

But a Starks triple and the second block of the game for Garvin going the other direction was followed up by a big Garvin dunk – his second of the game – that extended the visitors' advantage back to seven, 62-55. Yale would cut the gap back down to five but got no closer than that in the final minutes, as Bryant would strip the ball twice and hit enough free throws down the stretch to secure the 72-64 final.

Bryant finished the evening shooting 52 percent after a 57.1 percent second-half clip. The Bulldogs hit 40 percent from long range with a 14-of-19 mark from the charity stripe. Yale shot 39.3 percent from the field, going just 3-of-21 from distance.

The Bulldogs return home for Saturday's contest, as Bryant hosts North Dakota State University in the opening game of the BlackRock Gotham Classic (1:00 p.m.).