Bulldogs fall to Terriers, 63-47, Monday on road

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Rookie guard Hunter Ware (Powder Springs, Ga.) scored 11 second-half points to keep the Bulldogs in contention, but NEC favorite St. Francis Brooklyn proved to be too much for the Bryant University men's basketball team, who fell to the Terriers, 63-47, Monday afternoon at the Pope Center.

Ware would finish the contest with a team-high 13 points, while senior captain Joe O'Shea (Burlington, Vt.) paced the game with 10 rebounds, the most of any Bryant (4-7, 1-1 Northeast Conference) player this season. O'Shea contributed seven points on the day, as well, as did sophomore Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) and junior Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.).

The Terriers (8-7, 2-0) were paced by 15 points from Tyreek Jewell and another 13 from Brent Jones (6 assists), while Amdy Fall posted the contest's only double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds (4 blocks).

The Terriers used a 10-0 run spanning more than four minutes to break open a 9-9 tie, a spurt that was bookended by scores from Jewell for the 19-9 advantage with 8:46 to go in the first half. A layup from O'Shea a minute later was all that interrupted what would eventually turn into a 22-2 run that stretched more than 10 minutes and brought the first-frame clock down to 3:13 with a 31-11 margin favoring the home side.

Junior transfer Zach Chionuma (Jamesville, N.Y.) would put an end to that streak with a pair of free throw makes 40 seconds apart, and the Bulldogs would fight through the end of the half, closing the stanza on a quick 9-3 run of their own. The stretch included the first points of the day from NEC leading scorer Dyami Starks (Duluth, Minn.) – the team's first 3-pointer of the day – with 1:15 left on the clock. He would finish the game with just five points.

The Bulldogs did an equally good job limiting Jalen Cannon, St. Francis Brooklyn's leading scorer, keeping him to just one first-half point (eight total), but the Terriers would still enter the locker room in control of the game, leading, 34-20, at the halftime break. The Bulldogs shot just 25.9 percent in the frame to St. Francis Brooklyn's 42.9 percent clip, and the Terriers led the margin on the glass, 22-18, while draining five treys in the opening 20 minutes.

In the second, the Bulldogs used an 8-0 run – six of those points coming from Ware – over 4:14 to close the gap to 10 points, 44-34, with 12:32 to play. The Terriers' lead would hover in the teens from there until back-to-back trifectas from McLaughlin and Ware brought the spread down to nine points, 54-45, with 6:09 left on the clock.

The single-digit margin wouldn't last long, however, and the Bulldogs would get no closer through the final whistle. The hosts returned to a 14-point advantage, 59-45, after a three-point play from Cannon with 4:15 remaining and would score the last four points of the contest en route to the 63-47 final.

On the day, Bryant shot 32.1 percent – its second-lowest clip of the season – and tied its season low for points scored. The Bulldogs went just 3-for-16 (.188) from long distance and were outrebounded, 39-30. St. Francis Brooklyn shot at a 46 percent clip, converting 6-of-20 from downtown.

The Bulldogs will look to move past the loss quickly and focus on the team's upcoming three-game homestand, a stretch that starts Thursday, Jan. 8 when Saint Francis U. visits the Chace Athletic Center (7:00 p.m.). Thursday's game can be seen live on NECFrontRow.com and heard on WOON 1240 AM.