Bryant falls to Yale despite 23 points from Starks Wednesday at home

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Despite a second-straight 20-point outing from senior guard Dyami Starks (Duluth, Minn.), the Bryant University men's basketball team dropped its third-straight contest, a 67-60 decision to Yale, Wednesday night at the Chace Athletic Center.

Starks paced the game with 23 points off strong shooting from the floor (8-12) and from long range, hitting 5-of-6 from 3-point land. Redshirt-junior Zach Chionuma (Jamesville, N.Y.) added a season-high 11 points as the only other double-digit scorer for the Bulldogs (1-4), who shot at a 41.8 percent clip as a team. Bryant went 10-for-25 (.400) from long distance and was awarded just six free throws (4-6) in the contest.

Yale (7-2) boasted a quartet of double-figure scorers in the win, including 15 points apiece from leading scorer Javier Duren (7 assists) and Justin Sears (3 blocks). The visitors shot 46 percent from the field and dominated on the glass, 38-28. Armani Cotton pulled in eight boards to pace the tilt, while Sears added seven more.

Senior Joe O'Shea (Burlington, Vt.) and sophomore Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) paced the Black and Gold on the glass with seven rebounds each, while both contributed eight points despite the loss.

Yale opened up its biggest lead of the half, 18-10, by the midway point of the opening frame, an advantage the Bulldogs whittled down to three, 22-19, over the next four minutes before taking a momentary 25-24 lead on a Chionuma 3-pointer with 4:44 remaining. The lead would disappear as quickly as it came, however, thanks to a Matt Townsend (11 points) layup, as Yale finished out the stanza on a 9-2 run for a 33-28 lead at the break.

After an opening bucket from O'Shea to start off the scoring in the second, Yale scored the next nine points for a 42-30 advantage at the 15:44 mark. Garvin closed the lead back to single digits, 44-35, a minute later, but the visitors went on a 10-2 tear over the next three minutes for a 54-37 advantage – the largest of the game – with 11:19 left to play.

A 3-pointer from junior Curtis Oakley (South Euclid, Ohio) followed by five-straight points from Starks brought Bryant back within 10, 54-45, with 7:30 to go, but the margin would waver around that mark entering the final two minutes.

A late 3-pointer from Oakley from the top of the arc with 30 seconds remaining would cut Yale's lead to just six, 63-57, and Starks knocked down another triple with 7.1 ticks to go for a 65-60 margin. But too many missed opportunities in the final five minutes would haunt the Black and Gold, as the visitors held on for the 67-60 win.

Bryant won't have long to stew on the loss, though. The Bulldogs return to action Saturday night, taking on intrastate rival Brown at the Pizzitola Center at 7:30 p.m. Saturday's contest can be heard live on WOON 1240 AM.