Bulldogs fall to Sacred Heart, 83-66, Saturday despite career day from Garvin

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Sophomore forward Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) recorded his third double-double of the month and set a new career mark with a game-best 20 points, but the Bryant University men's basketball team couldn't contain Sacred Heart shooters Saturday afternoon, falling to the Pioneers at the Chace Athletic Center, 83-66.

Garvin pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds for his sixth-career double-double while senior guard Dyami Starks (Duluth, Minn.) added 15 points in the Bryant (9-9, 6-2 Northeast Conference) loss. But it was the shooting of Sacred Heart (9-12, 3-5) that was the real story, as the Pioneers converted 56 percent of shots from the floor (33-59) and nearly 60 percent from beyond the arc (8-15) to snap the Bulldogs' five-game conference winning streak.

The Sacred Heart defense held senior guard Joe O'Shea (Burlington, Vt.) – the Bulldogs' hottest hand this month – to just six points on 2-of-7 shooting, while the Pioneer offense saw four finish in double figures, led by 19 from Tevin Falzon. Falzon also finished the tilt with a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds and an impressive five blocks on the afternoon.

Rookie sensation Cane Broome added 18 points for the visitors, while Evan Kelley chipped in 14 and Steve Glowiak scored 11 in the victory.

The Bulldogs shot 38.2 percent from the field in the outing (26-68) and 36.8 percent from long range (7-19). Bryant went 7-of-11 from the free throw line and was outrebounded by the Pioneers, 43-31.

After a slow start, junior guard Curtis Oakley (South Euclid, Ohio) tied the game at 16-16 with a layup off a Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) dish with 11:37 to go in the first half. Sacred Heart would rip off an 11-3 run from there, though, taking over a 27-19 advantage, and the Pioneers earned their first double-digit lead of the day with five to go, 35-24, off a De'Von Barnett jumper.

Sacred Heart would eventually outscore the Bulldogs, 19-9, in the final 10 minutes of the stanza en route to a 13-point, 41-28 halftime advantage as the hosts went just 4-for-15 from the field in the span.

The Bulldogs worked down that deficit early in the second, cutting it to eight, 46-38, on a Bosko Kostur (Melbourne, Australia) layup five minutes into the stanza. Back-to-back treys from Starks closed the margin to six, 52-46, with 12:29 left in regulation, but Bryant wouldn't get back to even, thanks to a seven-point response from Saturday's visitors.

O'Shea would hit his first points of the day with a trey from the right side with 9:33 left in the contest, and Starks would echo the shot 30 seconds later for a 62-55 margin favoring the Pioneers. An O'Shea three-point play with 5:27 to go narrowed the deficit to only six, 66-60, but every time the Bulldogs began to close the gap, the Pioneers would respond in kind.

The six-point margin was as close as the home side would get, as Sacred Heart outscored the Black and Gold, 17-6, in the final 5:09 of the contest for the 83-66 victory. The Pioneers' 83 points are the most the Bulldogs have allowed to any opponent this season.

After playing six of its last seven contests in the friendly confines of the Chace Athletic Center, Bryant will now take to the highways, traveling to western Pennsylvania for the next three. The Black and Gold will open the road trip with a Thursday night rematch against Saint Francis U. in Loretto, Pa. The Bulldogs won the season's first tilt between the sides, 80-54, back on Jan. 8.