#3 Bryant falls to #6 Saint Francis Wed. in NEC Quarterfinals

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After being down double digits with less than 10 minutes to play in the contest, #6 Saint Francis University went on the road and earned a huge come-from-behind victory over #3 Bryant, 55-54, Wednesday night at the Chace Athletic Center in Northeast Conference Quarterfinal action.

They say basketball is a game of runs and if ever a more fitting example was Wednesday night's NEC Quarterfinal matchup in Smithfield as the near-sellout crowd erupted after every Bulldog bucket, the Red Flash persevered, answering every Bryant run, eventually earning the 55-54 comeback victory.

Junior guard Dyami Starks (Duluth, Minn.) led the Bulldogs with 19 points and five rebounds in 37 minutes, while classmate Joe O'Shea (Burlington, Vt.) chipped in 11 points to round out the Bryant double-digit scorers. Seniors Alex Francis (Harlem, New York) and Corey Maynard (Adelaide, Australia) each put up seven points in the final NEC contest of their storied Bulldog careers. Sophomore Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) rounded out the Bryant starters with eight points, five assists and three steals.

Francis wraps up his time in Smithfield as the only player in NEC history to rank in the top five in both points (2,085) and rebounds (990).

Ronnie Drinnon put up the game of the career leading all players with 20 points and 18 rebounds. Greg Brown, Dominique Major and Earl Brown all finished with eight points, with Earl Brown dishing out a game-high seven assists.

After opening up a 9-2 advantage minutes into the contest, the Bryant offense became sluggish, allowing Saint Francis to knot the score, 20-20, at the 3:20 mark of the first half.

Despite an O'Shea 3-pointer and a Starks layup, six-straight points from Greg Brown and an Earl Brown finish at the rim with time expiring gave the Red Flash their largest lead of the game, 28-25, heading into halftime.

O'Shea lead all scorers at the break with 10 points, with Starks adding seven, but it was Drinnon who dominated the first half with 11 rebounds to go along with eight points.

The second half picked up right where the first left off, both teams trading blows back-and-forth, until a 7-0 run put the Black and Gold back in the driver's seat, 40-33, with just over 13 minutes to play. Saint Francis answered with five-straight of their own but, another Bulldog run, highlighted by seven-consecutive points from Starks, gave Bryant its largest lead of the night, 49-38, with 9:21 left on the clock.

Fittingly enough, another streak by the Red Flash, this time a 10-1 run capped by a Drinnon and-one, brought the visitors within a bucket, 50-48, at the final media break of the contest. On the next Red Flash possession Major buried a 3-pointer to give Saint Francis its first lead of the contest, 51-50, with 3:37 to play.

Both teams stood scoreless for almost three minutes until Drinnon laid in his seven basket of the contest to put the Red Flash up 53-52 with 43 seconds left. After a McLaughlin miss, Drinnon went to line and buried a pair of clutch free throws to put the Red Flash up 55-52 with 27 ticks left.

On the following Bryant possession, Starks earned a trip the line, knocking down both to cut the deficit to just a point with under 20 seconds to play. On the inbound, McLaughlin intercepted a pass, giving the Black and Gold a final possession with 14 seconds left but the Bulldogs were unable to retake the lead, eventually falling, 55-54.

Bryant wraps up the 2013-14 season with an 18-14 overall record, finishing 10-6 in the NEC. The Bulldogs earned their best finish in conference play the Division I level, capturing the third overall seed earned their second-straight berth in the NEC Tournament.