Bryant falls on road, 75-68, despite career nights for Kostur, O'Shea

LORETTO, Pa. – A breakout game from redshirt-freshman guard Bosko Kostur (Melbourne, Australia) and career high from senior captain Joe O'Shea (Burlington, Vt.) led the Bryant University men's basketball team to a near comeback at DeGol Arena Thursday night, but the effort would fall short in the final minutes en route to a 75-68 loss to Saint Francis University.

O'Shea paced the game, tying his career high with 21 points while setting a new career mark from 3-point land with five triples (5-8). Kostur also set a new personal best with 18 points and seven rebounds, going 7-for-12 from the floor with a trio of assists in 32 minutes of action. Senior guard Dyami Starks (Duluth, Minn.) also finished in double figures with 16 points, including a perfect 10-for-10 mark from the line.

Sophomore forward Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds to complement eight points and a career-high four steals (3 assists). The Bulldogs (9-10, 6-3 Northeast Conference) outrebounded the Red Flash (11-9, 5-4), 37-28, but shot just 33.3 percent from the field as a unit. Bryant went 21-of-24 from the charity stripe on the night.

Saint Francis was led by 19 points from Earl Brown and 12 more from Malik Harmon. Greg Brown and Ollie Jackson each finished with 10 points for the hosts, while Jackson's six rebounds were a side best. The Red Flash shot 56.3 percent from the floor and 13-of-19 from the line.

After trailing for the opening 12 minutes of the game, the Bulldogs took a short-lived one-point lead, 24-23, at the eight-minute mark off a Kostur triple from the top of the arc, followed by an O'Shea driving layup.

Saint Francis would take the edge right back, but a thundering dunk from Kostur with 4:48 on the clock silenced the Red Flash crowd and brought the Bulldogs back within two, 28-26. O'Shea would close the half with back-to-back treys – the second of which came from the right corner with just four ticks left on the clock – to send the Black and Gold into the locker room trailing by just two, 37-35.

But Saint Francis started out the second half on a tear, going on an 8-2 run and forcing the Bulldogs to burn an early timeout. The Red Flash took a double-digit lead for the first time just three minutes later, 51-41, on an Earl Brown jumper with 14 minutes left to play.

An 8-0 streak – achieved mostly at the free throw line (6-6) – drew Bryant back within a single possession, 55-52, as the half hit the midway point, but the margin would hover around two possessions entering the final five minutes of the contest.

O'Shea would drain his fifth three of the game at the 3:08 mark to close the gap to just one point, 64-63, but a Starks miss that led to a breakaway corner trey from Dominique Major (9 points) put the home side up by six. But the Bulldogs still weren't out.

A Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) three once again closed the gap to one, 69-68, and two misses from the line from Jackson gave Bryant the ball back with 66 seconds to play. But when the Black and Gold couldn't get a shot to go down, they would have to resort to fouling, and the Red Flash would get what they needed for the 75-68 victory.

The Bulldogs won't linger on the loss for long. Bryant has just one day off before returning to the court for a Saturday afternoon matchup against Robert Morris in Moon Township, Pa. The 4:00 p.m. tip is the second half of an NEC men's/women's doubleheader and can be seen live on NECFrontRow.com.