Garvin, McLaughlin post career highs in 71-68 victory over Robert Morris Saturday

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Sophomore forward Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) scored a game-high and career-best 21 points to lead the Bryant University men's basketball team to a 71-68 upset victory over first-place Robert Morris Saturday afternoon at the Charles L. Sewall Center.

The Bryant (10-10, 7-3 Northeast Conference) victory snapped a four-game Robert Morris (11-11, 7-3) winning streak and marked just the second time in 10 meetings that the Bulldogs have topped the Colonials.

Garvin's 9-for-10 performance from the field paced the Black and Gold, as the sophomore added seven boards to the second 20+-point game of his career. Junior point guard Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) was also stellar in the outing, dishing out a career-high nine dimes to complement 10 points, a block and a steal. Redshirt-freshman Bosko Kostur (Melbourne, Australia) also finished in double figures with 11 points in his first-career start, while senior guard Dyami Starks (Duluth, Minn.) chipped in 18 for the Bulldogs, including 13 in the second half alone.

As a team, the Bulldogs shot 54 percent from the floor (27-50) and missed just a single shot from the free throw line (11-12), setting a new Division I single-game program record (91.7 percent). Bryant edged its hosts on the glass, 31-30, and went 6-for-16 from distance.

Robert Morris saw 13 second-half points from rookie guard Marquise Reed, who led the side with 20 points on the contest. Lucky Jones added 19 on 7-of-17 shooting (5-11 from 3-point range) and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. The Colonials also missed just a single freebie (13-14) but shot just 38.3 percent from the field (23-60) despite the near comeback.

Neither side led by more than two possessions until the final minute of the opening frame, when a deep McLaughlin trey put the Bulldogs up, 29-22, with 1:14 remaining. Bryant would maintain that margin heading into the halftime break, 31-24, in a stanza that featured seven ties and was highlighted by 10 points from Garvin, including a dunk at the 11:35 mark.

Garvin scored Bryant's first two baskets of the second frame, and after McLaughlin blocked the first shot of his career on a Reed attempted layup, he gathered the ball and found Starks the other way for a triple and a 10-point, 38-28 advantage.

It wouldn't last long, though, as back-to-back Jones 3-pointers closed the gap to four less than two minutes later, and the Colonials pulled within three, 39-36, on an Elijah Minnie (4 points) layup with 13 minutes remaining.

A trey from McLaughlin and layup from Garvin pushed the visitors' edge back to eight, where it would hover as the teams traded baskets entering the final eight minutes of regulation. Another Jones trifecta brought the hosts back within five with 7:08 to play, and that margin would become four on a converted three-point play from Rodney Pryor (7 points), 56-52, with less than five to go.

Senior guard Joe O'Shea (Burlington, Vt.) (9 points, 6 assists) drove the lane and muscled out a layup with 4:11 remaining, and Kostur knocked down a deep three from beyond the top of the arc as the clock ticked below the three-minute mark to put Bryant on top, 61-54.

But Reed would return the favor on the next possession, and no matter how many times the Bulldogs went up, the Colonials had an answer.

Garvin's second dunk of the day following a Starks layup put Bryant ahead, 65-57, with 1:38 remaining, but when O'Shea fouled Reed shooting a three, it would spark six-straight points from the rookie guard, who got the hosts back within two, 65-63, with 70 seconds showing on the clock.

That margin carried into the final 30 ticks of the contest, and an RMU foul on a near strip of Starks sent the senior sharpshooter to the line for a one-and-one with 17 seconds to go. Starks would hit them both for a 69-65 advantage, but Jones would respond once again just seconds later right in front of his own bench with a huge three from the corner to cut the visitors' margin to just one, 69-68, with 10.5 seconds showing on the clock.

A home run pass on the inbounds would find O'Shea inside the paint for the quick foul, and he would hit both from the charity stripe for a 71-68 lead with 6.5 seconds left. A last-second three from Jones would fall just off the mark, as the Bulldogs held on for just their second-ever victory over the Colonials.

Once again, the Bulldogs won't revel in the win for long. Bryant will play its third game in just a five-day span Monday, taking on ACC opponent the University of Pittsburgh on ESPN3 at 7:00 p.m.