Bulldogs take on Terriers in Saturday afternoon dogfight

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

THE PARTICULARS
Bryant stays put at the Chace Athletic Center for Saturday's Northeast Conference bout against St. Francis Brooklyn at 1:05 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live on Cox Sports and the Ocean State Network.

THE SERIES
This is the eighth all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and the Terriers, with St. Francis holding a 5-2 edge in the series. Bryant, however, has drawn most recent blood, topping the Terriers, 84-77, in the teams' only meeting of the 2012-13 campaign. Bryant is winless on the road against St. Francis but is 2-2 at home in Smithfield. Saturday's outing marks the first of two meetings between the two sides during the 2013-14 regular season.

SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
Preseason all-conference selection Jalen Cannon paces a St. Francis Brooklyn side that started out the season with a bang, taking down Miami on the road, 66-62, in overtime back in November. The Terriers have fared well since and enter the game at 12-8 overall. Cannon's 16.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game lead the way, while Ben Mockford also chips in double digits with 11.6 points per outing. Wayne Martin leads Saturday's visitors with a .504 shooting percentage (7.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and has 25 blocks, a number bested only by Amdy Fall's 32. Brent Jones (5.5 ppg) runs the St. Francis offense, dishing out 111 helpers so far this season. As a team, the Terriers are shooting 41.6 percent and average 67.5 points per contest.

BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The Bulldogs are 4-1 against the Northeast Conference in 2013-14 with a 25-50 record (.333) against current NEC members since joining the Division I ranks. All-time against current conference institutions, the Bulldog basketball program is 39-67 (.367), having most frequently faced off against regional rival Sacred Heart (11-16). Bryant went 12-6 against league opponents last season, finishing tied for second in the regular-season standings to earn a No. 4 seed in the 2013 NEC Tournament.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB
With a layup just 49 seconds into the second half Thursday night, junior guard Dyami Starks became the 34th player in program history to reach the 1,000 point threshold. He also becomes the third player in the last two seasons to accomplish the feat. Current senior Alex Francis (1873 points) and Director of Operations Frankie Dobbs (1232 points) each joined the club in 2012-13. Senior point guard Corey Maynard is knocking on the door as well, needing just 120 more points for 1,000 in his career. Maynard, who is currently averaging 12.7 points per game, needs to average 10.9 points each time out to reach the goal by the conclusion of the 2013-14 regular season.

FRANCIS ON FIRE
Bulldog standout Alex Francis has been on fire as of late. The senior forward and extended his 20-point game streak to six after a game-high 24-point outing in Thursday night's victory over LIU Brooklyn, and his six-straight contests with 20 or more points dating back to Dec. 30 marks the longest such run of his career. In that span, Francis has paced the Bulldogs to a 5-1 record, averaging an impressive 24.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per contest. The New York native is shooting 63.9 percent from the floor with a pair of double-doubles — the 29th and 30th of his career — in that time, and adds 10 assists, three blocks and five steals. In NEC play alone (five games), Fracnis is averaging 25 points and nine rebounds each time out.

MORE MILESTONES FOR FRANCIS
Senior forward and preseason all-conference pick Alex Francis is just one performance away from recording the 100th double-digit outing of his career. Francis, who has appeared in 110-career games, is also four starts shy of 100 and has posted double-figure points in all but two contests so far this season.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE
Bryant trailed LIU Brooklyn, 42-32, after the first 20 minutes Thursday night but would outscore the Blackbirds, 55-37, in the second half for the 87-79 victory, overcoming a double-digit halftime deficit for the first time since Jan. 29, 2011. In that game, the Bulldogs trailed Mount St. Mary's, 36-24, but came back for the 62-60 win.

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS
For the fourth-straight game, Bryant dished out 20 or more assists Thursday night at the Chace Athletic Center. The Bulldogs tied their season mark — previously set Jan. 16 at home against Sacred Heart — with 21 helpers. Senior guard Corey Maynard led the way with a side-best nine.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, VICTORY
The Bulldogs are 3-0 this season in games broadcast by Cox Sports and the Ocean State Network.

THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER
Senior captain and starting guard Corey Maynard had the Bryant offense in overdrive last week in a pair of double-digit wins, and the Australian native was rewarded with the first NEC Player of the Week honor of his career. Maynard stuffed the stat sheet, averaging 24.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game. He also made 70.4 percent of his shot attempts and drilled 7-of-10 from beyond the arc.

Maynard opened the week on Thursday with 19 points, six rebounds, seven assists and four steals as the Bulldogs knocked off visiting Sacred Heart, 85-70. With Bryant leading, 54-49, four minutes into the second half, the senior guard scored 10 straight points for the Bulldogs to keep the Pioneers at bay. On Saturday, Maynard put on an incredible shooting display to set a new career high with 30 points. He made 12-of-15 from the field and all three of his 3-point attempts in a 95-68 win at Fairleigh Dickinson. Maynard ranks in the NEC top-15 in nine categories this season: scoring (12.7, 12th), rebounding (4.8, 14th), assists (5.2, 6th, 50th nationally), field goal percentage (.470, 12th), free throw percentage (.817, fth), steals (1.63, 3rd), assist/TO ratio (1.87, 7th), defensive rebounds (4.33, 5th) and minutes played (33.95, 4th). The senior was also named the College Sports Madness NEC Player of the Week.

HITTING THE MARK
Not only did numerous Bulldogs set individual season and career highs Jan. 18 against FDU, but the team as a whole also set a new program record with their shooting from beyond the arc. Bryant hit 11-of-17 from 3-point land in the victory for a 64.7 percent clip, breaking the previous school record of 63.2 percent (12-19) set against Quinnipiac in January 2013.

As for individual performances, senior Corey Maynard set new career marks in points (30) and made field goals (12), sophomore guard Shane McLaughlin set new career highs in points (10) assists (8), free throws made (5), free throws taken (7) and minutes (39), sophomore Curtis Oakley recorded personal bests in 3-pointers made (4) and taken (6), and junior Joe O'Shea pulled down a career-best nine rebounds. Bryant also shot a season-high 58.9 percent (33-56) from the floor.

MAKING MILESTONES
Head coach Tim O'Shea earned his 50th win at Bryant University with last Saturday's 95-68 road victory over Fairleigh Dickinson. He currently boasts 171 career victories as a head coach.

FRANCHISE FRANCIS: IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
In the latest NCAA rankings, Bryant senior forward Alex Francis currently sits among the top active NCAA Division I players in numerous categories. As of January 23, the senior is ranked third in career field goals (currently 710), sixth in total rebounds (873), seventh in total points (1,873), seventh in career double-doubles (30), 15th in career scoring average (16.9 ppg), 13th in free throws made (440) and 28th in rebounding average (7.9). He is one of just six active players to have 1,500 points and 750 rebounds to his name. Francis also ranks 19th in field goal percentage this season (.588) and 42nd in points per game (19.2).

FRANCHISE FRANCIS: IN THE NEC RANKINGS
Bryant senior forward Alex Francis reached yet another plateau on his march up the NEC career scoring chart and enters Saturday's game ranked 11th all-time with 1,873 career points. The senior forward needs just two more points to enter the top 10 but will need to cross over the 2,000-point threshold to make it into the top 5.

Francis remains in 12th on the league's all-time rebounding list (873) and has a chance to become the first player in conference history to finish with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. He needs 43 boards to break into the top 10.

More Francis/NEC Highlights...
» Francis has the chance to become the first player in conference annals to finish in the top-10 in both points and rebounds.

» Francis is one of just four players in NEC history to rank in the top 20 in both scoring and rebounding in his career, joining the likes of CCSU's Ken Horton, LIU's Jamal Olasewere and Marist's Rik Smits.

» Francis is one of just 13 players in NEC history to reach 1,500 points and 750 rebounds in his career, and one of just five players in the league annals to reach 1,700 points and 800 boards.

» He currently ranks in the NEC top-4 in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage (first) and minutes played.

FRANCHISE FRANCIS: IN THE BRYANT RANKINGS
With 11 regular-season games still to play, senior forward Alex Francis is already seated among the greatest scorers and rebounders the program has ever seen. His 24-point performance Thursday against LIU Brooklyn vaulted him into third on the all-time scoring list, however Francis would need 366 more points, a near-impossible order with just 11 regular-season games left to play, to move up any farther in the rankings.

Francis enters Saturday's matchup ranked fourth on the rebounding charts with 873 in his career after passing Jason Noel with his 11 rebounds Thursday night. He also ranks in the program's top-10 in scoring average, field goals, field goal percentage, free throws made and rebounding average.

#6THFAN
Bryant has the best fans in the NCAA. Now, it's time to prove it. The NCAA's 6th Fan contest is a nationwide online competition that will determine which Division I school has the most pride and the most supportive fans. Fans can be a part of the action and help Bryant earn over $100,000 in general scholarship contributions by voting for the Bulldogs once a day every day at ncaa.com/6thFan now until Feb. 16. Fans can also vote on Twitter by tweeting or retweeting the hashtags #6thFan and #BRYANT (both hashtags must appear for vote to count). The contest also includes prizes for individual fans, including an iPad Air and an all-expense paid trip to the 2015 Men's Final Four in North Texas April 5-7.

TICKET TO RIDE
Single-game and season ticket packages are still available for the 2013-14 Bryant University men's and women's basketball seasons. Fans can purchase tickets online at bryantbulldogs.com/tickets or by calling the Bryant Athletics Ticket Office at 401-319-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 2013-14. NEC Front Row brings viewers an industry-leading video streaming solution for more than 100 Bryant University home contests during the 2013-14 athletic seasons, including live, free-of-charge broadcasts of all Bulldog home and in-conference road men's basketball games. Live event productions include multiple camera angles, an on-screen scoreboard and state-of-the-art graphics. Visit necfrontrow.com for more information and a schedule of events.

BRYANT HOOPS ON WOON RADIO
For the sixth-consecutive season, all Bryant University basketball home games and select road contests can be heard LIVE on WOON 1240 AM and online at bryantbulldogs.com. 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 travels to Moon Township, Pa., for a rematch against Robert Morris University Thursday, Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. The game will be aired live on ESPNU.