Bulldogs win third straight with 81-73 decision over Wagner Thursday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior guard Dyami Starks (Duluth, Minn.) picked up his sixth 20-point game of the season while classmate Joe O'Shea (Burlington, Vt.) added 19 more as the Bryant University men's basketball team won a hard-fought 81-73 victory over Northeast Conference foe Wagner College Thursday at the Chace Athletic Center.

Starks scored a season-high 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting and tied his career high with six steals, while junior point guard Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) and rookie guard Hunter Ware (Powder Springs, Ga.) joined Starks and O'Shea in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Bulldogs (7-7, 4-1 NEC) shot 50 percent or better for the third time this season, finishing the night at 51 percent (25-49) after a .650 mark in the second half. The Seahawks (4-12, 2-3) shot 38.1 percent from the floor (24-63) and 40 percent from beyond the arc (8-20) but converted only 60 percent from the charity stripe (17-28). Wagner was paced by a game-best 31 points from Marcus Burton (10-23) and 10 more from Romone Saunders.

The Bulldogs trailed early after a quick Wagner start but used a 10-0 run in just under six minutes to take an 18-11 edge midway through the opening frame. Another 10-3 stretch put Bryant out in front, 32-22, entering the last four minutes of the stanza, but the Seahawks would make up some ground in the final three to enter the halftime break trailing the Black and Gold by just six, 36-30.

Burton opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the score at 36-36, but Bryant responded with 10 of the next 14 points – led by a pair of long balls from Starks – to renew a six-point edge, 46-40.

Ware completed the rare four-point play as the clock hit 12 minutes remaining to give Bryant its biggest lead of the game to that point, 56-44, and the play was part of a 10-point Bulldog scoring stretch that put the Black and Gold out in front, 60-44.

Bryant upped its lead to as many as 18 after a pair of Andrew Scocca (Melrose, Mass.) free throws, but Burton's fifth 3-pointer of the day with 6:36 to go brought the score back to 14, 68-54.

Wagner closed its deficit to 10 inside the final five minutes of the game on a pair of Burton freebies, 70-60, but the Seahawks would get no closer until the final 10 seconds of regulation as the Bulldogs broke through the full court press and hit enough from the line down the stretch (5-10 in final three minutes) for the 81-73 victory.

Bryant's 81 points marked the most the team has scored so far this season, and the victory represents the Bulldogs' first winning streak of the year.

The Bulldogs now will head to Central Connecticut Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. matchup against the Blue Devils before returning home Tuesday for a 5:30 p.m. tilt against non-conference foe Harvard. Both games can be seen live at NECFrontRow.com.