Bulldogs look to clinch home court advantage in regular-season finale at LIU

FULL GAME NOTES
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SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team wraps up the 2014 regular season on Saturday as they visit three-time defending league champion LIU Brooklyn. The Bulldogs will be in search of their first-ever victory at the Steinberg Wellness Center and the home playoff game that would come along with that accomplishment. Tip is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

THE SERIES
Saturday's game is the 10th all-time meeting between the two programs, with LIU holding a commanding 7-2 edge in the series. The Blackbirds had won six-straight games against Bryant before the Bulldogs erased a halftime deficit to earn a 87-79 victory at the Chace Athletic Center on Jan. 23.

SCOUTING THE BLACKBIRDS
The three-time defending NEC Tournament champions, LIU Brooklyn will not get the chance to defend that title this year as they have been eliminated from playoff contention. It marks the first time since the 2006-07 season that the Blackbirds will not compete in the postseason. The Blackbirds are led by Cousy Award finalist Jason Brickman, the nation's leading assist man. Brickman is averaging 9.9 assists a game and enters today's contest just three dimes shy of becoming the fourth player in NCAA history to record 1,000 assists in a career. Gerrell Martin and E.J. Reed lead four double-digit scorers with 12.2 PPG each. Reed also averages 5.5 caroms.

BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The Bulldogs are 9-6 against the Northeast Conference in 2013-14 with a 30-55 record (.353) against current NEC members since joining the Division I ranks. All-time against current conference institutions, the Bulldog basketball program is 44-72 (.379). 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.

NEC TOURNAMENT SEEDING SCENARIOS
All eight of the league's postseason berths have been clinched entering the final regular-season gae, and Bryant is guaranteed a spot in the Northeast Conference Tournament for the second-straight season. Bryant can clinch the #3 seed with a win on Saturday or losses by both St. Francis Brooklyn and Mount St. Mary's. If Bryant loses, the Bulldogs can still claim the #4 seed if either St. Francis Brooklyn or Mount St. Mary's lose. If both the Terriers and the Mount win and Bryant loses, the Bulldogs will be the #5 seed.

O'SHEA IT AIN'T SO
Junior Joe O'Shea had two of the best outings of his season last week, scoring a season-high 19 points against Central Connecticut at home Saturday afternoon before adding 18 more in Monday's makeup game at Mount St. Mary's, going 7-of-12 from the field in both efforts. The swingman has started all 30 games for the Black and Gold this season and has posted four double-digit point outings in the last seven contests. O'Shea averages 8.9 points per game on the season with a 46.0 percent shooting clip from the field and 34.5 percent accuracy from long range (30-87).

WELCOME TO THE CLUB
Senior guard Corey Maynard laid in a breakaway basket 3:41 into the second half Saturday against Central Connecticut and with the score became the 35th and newest member of Bryant's 1,000-point club. The Aussie native is the second Bulldog this season to join the elite group, after junior guard Dyami Starks scored his 1,000th at home on Jan. 23 against LIU Brooklyn. Over the last two seasons, four players have now accomplished the feat, with current senior Alex Francis (2,063 points) and Director of Operations Frankie Dobbs (1,232 points) each joined the club in 2012-13.

FRANCIS FANTASTIC
Bulldog standout Alex Francis has been on fire as of late. The senior forward has eight double-doubles in his last 13 contests, and has scored 20 or more points in 12 of the last 16 outings. Francis scored a game-high 22 points and added a game-best 10 rebounds Monday at Mount St. Mary's and now has 10 double-doubles on the year with 36 on his Bulldog career.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING: FRANCIS SCORES 2,000TH POINT
In what has already been a season filled with milestones, senior forward Alex Francis reached yet another historic height, recording the 2,000th point of his collegiate career at Wagner Feb. 16. Francis becomes just the sixth player in NEC history to reach the 2,000-point mark and just the third in program annals, joining only Tom Smile (2,390 from 1963-67) and Ernie DeWitt (2,239 from 1977-81). The NEC Player of the Year hopeful has put himself in a class all this own this season and is the first player in NEC history to achieve a top-10 ranking in both career points (6th, 2,063) and career rebounds (5th, 973).

And his next milestone is right within reach. Francis has the potential to become the first player in NEC history to score 2,000 points and pull down 1,000 rebounds before closing out his exceptional career. He enters Saturday's matchup as the NEC's active leader scoring and rebounding.

POTENT PAIR
There have been some great one-two punches in NEC basketball in recent years, but over the last two years, senior forward Alex Francis and junior guard Dyami Starks take a back seat to no one. In fact, Starks (19.1) and Francis (19.1) are currently tied as the fifth-highest scoring duo in the country, combining for 38.2 points per game this season. Only pairs from Oral Roberts (40.6), VMI (39.1), Auburn (39.0) and Louisiana-Lafayette (39.0) average more in tandem.

Starks and Francis could go down as the NEC's highest scoring duo since LIU Brooklyn Charles Jones (29.0) and Mike Campbell (19.7) combined for 48.7 points per game in 1997-98. The St. Francis Brooklyn duo of Steven Howard (20.2) and Richy Dominguez (19.1) totaled 39.5 points per outing and ranked one-two in the NEC in scoring in 2000-01. Francis currently ranks fourth in the league and Starks third in point production.

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 February 27, the senior is ranked second in career field goals (currently 781), sixth in total points (2,063), fifth in career double-doubles (36), sixth in total rebounds (973), 12th in free throws made (488), 17th in career scoring average (17.0 ppg) and 25th in rebounding average (8.0). He is one of just three active players to have 2,000 points and 750 rebounds to his name. Francis also ranks 21st in field goal percentage this season (.576) and is 50th in points per game (19.1) this season.

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 currently ranks sixth all-time with 2,063 career points. He has now passed three NEC Hall of Famer in his trip up the league's all-time scoring ladder (FDU's Desi Wilson, Marist's Rik Smits, RMU's Myron Walker), and the senior forward will now look  to cross into the NEC top-5. He needs 17 more points to take sole possession of fifth from 2013 Sacred Heart grad Shane Gibson. Francis also moves into the No. 5 spot on the league's all-time rebounding list, with 973 in his career.

Francis currently occupies spots in the NEC top-3 in scoring (19.1, tied for third), rebounding (8.2, tied for first) and field goal percentage (.576, 1st).

FRANCHISE FRANCIS: IN THE BRYANT RANKINGS
With one regular-season game 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 Jan. 23 against LIU Brooklyn vaulted him into third on the all-time scoring list, however Francis would need 176 more points to move up any farther in the rankings.

Francis enters Saturday's matchup ranked fourth on the rebounding charts with 973 in his career after passing Jason Noel with his 11 rebounds on Jan. 23. He needs 14 more to reach third all time. He also ranks in the program's top-10 in scoring average, field goals, field goal percentage, free throws made and rebounding average.

DUNK COUNT
The dunk count is on once again in 2013-14. The reign of senior Alex Francis still holds strong, but rookie forward Dan Garvin has also gotten some hangtime this season, with the pair combining for 36 dunks. Junior Dyami Starks threw down his first dunk of his Bulldog career in a win over St. Francis Brooklyn Jan. 25 and classmate Joe O'Shea scored the first slam of his career on last Saturday to bring the total to 38 on the year.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE
Bryant trailed LIU Brooklyn, 42-32, after the first 20 minutes Jan. 23 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.