Bryant falls at Mount St. Mary's, 75-68, Saturday to split season series

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Despite shooting nearly 54 percent from the floor, the Bryant University men's basketball team dropped a 75-68 decision to Mount St. Mary's Saturday afternoon at Knott Arena.

The loss keeps the Bulldogs (12-13, 9-5 Northeast Conference) winless in Emmitsburg, Md., in seven all-time tries and splits the season series between Bryant and the Mount (12-13, 8-6).

Senior guard Dyami Starks (Duluth, Minn.) headlined three double-digit point scorers for the Black and Gold with 18 points off 7-of-13 shooting (4-7 from 3-point range). Sophomore forward Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) added 16 on an 8-of-11 mark, while redshirt-freshman Bosko Kostur (Melbourne, Australia) chipped in 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor and 2-for-3 shooting from downtown.

Senior guard Joe O'Shea (Burlington, Vt.) paced both sides on the glass with eight, also adding six points and four assists on the day. Junior point guard Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) dished out a game-high five helpers to go along with seven points and four rebounds.

Mount saw a pair of double-figure point scorers, paced by a game-high 24 points from Bryon Ashe off the bench. Ashe went 9-of-19 from the floor, including four trifectas, while Gregory Graves added 12 points on 50 percent shooting from the field (4-8). The Mountaineers shot 46.4 percent in the tilt.

Bryant started out the contest on top, taking a five-point, 15-10 advantage on a Curtis Oakley (South Euclid, Ohio) layup with 12:15 to play in the opening half. That lead would quickly disappear thanks to a six-point run from the home side, who took over the edge at the 10:53 mark with a Kristijan Krajina layup, 16-15.

McLaughlin would get on the board for the last Bryant lead of the day just more than a minute later, but when a triple from Ashe gave Mount St. Mary's the 21-17 advantage with 8:22 left in the half, the lead would stay with Saturday's hosts for the remainder of the contest.

The Mount grew its lead to as many as seven in the opening stanza, capping the half off with another Ashe trey with 40 ticks to go before the break for a 38-31 halftime lead.

Out of the intermission, Mount's seven-point edge would quickly become double digits, and back-to-back fouls on Graves would allow the starting forward to score six-straight points and push his team's lead to 49-37 less than three minutes in.

A 3-pointer from McLaughlin at the 14:17 mark would close the deficit to six, 53-47, but after Graves and Garvin traded dunks, the home side would again push its lead to 11, 60-49, on a Will Miller triple midway through the frame.

A trey from Starks with just under seven to go cut the lead to six once more, and a layup from the senior closed the gap to five, 67-62, entering the final three minutes of action. But the Black and Gold would be forced to foul in the final 60 seconds, and Mount St. Mary's would make its free throws down the stretch for to the 75-68 final.

The Bulldogs, who have already clinched a place in the 2015 NEC Tournament, wrap up the road portion of their 2014-15 schedule Thursday night against Wagner in Staten Island (7 p.m.).