Bulldogs fall to Robert Morris in NEC Semifinal, 66-53, Saturday

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Senior guard Dyami Starks (Duluth, Minn.) scored a game-high 19 points in the first of two 2015 Northeast Conference Semifinals, but the third-seeded Bryant University men's basketball team fell to second-seeded Robert Morris, 66-53, Saturday at the Charles L. Sewall Center.

Starks's performance came off a 7-of-16 day from the floor, including five 3-pointers, and redshirt-freshman Bosko Kostur (Melbourne, Australia) was the only other Bulldog (16-15) to finish in double figures (10 points). Sophomore forward Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) added eight points and eight rebounds, while junior point guard Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) dished out seven assists with six points, also tying his career mark with eight boards.

The Colonials (18-14) saw 19 points and eight assists from Kavon Stewart, while Rodney Pryor added 12 more and Lucky Jones finished the day with 11. Elijah Minnie pulled in a game-high nine boards with eight points for the home side.

The Bulldogs were stymied by turnovers (season-high 19) and had a tough day from the charity stripe, hitting 9-of-13 and missing the front end of two one-and-ones despite leading the league in free throw percentage throughout the season. Robert Morris edged the Bulldogs on the glass, 33-29, and outshot Bryant, 44.6 percent to 40 percent.

After a sluggish start for Bryant that allowed the Colonials to open the game on a 14-3 run, the Bulldogs responded with a four-minute, 10-2 drive of their own to pull within a single possession, 16-13, as the first half hit the midway point.

The visitors renewed that three-point deficit with a deep three from Starks with 4:17 to go, 25-22, but it was as close as the Bulldogs would get in the opening 20 minutes, as Robert Morris headed into the halftime break with a 30-25 lead.

Turnovers and fouls would prove more costly to the Colonials than to the Bulldogs in the opening minutes of the second, as Bryant ripped off eight-straight points four minutes into the stanza en route to its first lead of the contest, 37-35. Following back-to-back offensive fouls from Robert Morris, Starks drained his third long ball of the day to knot the score at 35-35 with just less than 15 minutes on the clock. The Colonials would send senior Joe O'Shea (Burlington, Vt.) (5 points) to the line seconds later, and the senior would hit them both for the two-point edge with 14:16 to go.

And while the Colonials would tie it back up less than a minute later, the teams would battle from there, with neither side taking a two-possession lead until the 6:55 mark, when a Stephan Bennett jumper sparked an 11-0 run. The stretch included the fourth and fifth fouls on O'Shea and put the hosts on top, 59-48, with four minutes remaining in the contest.

Rookie Hunter Ware (Powder Springs, Ga.) put an end to the RMU stretch with a triple – his first points of the game – but the home side would quickly renew a double-digit lead, 61-51, to bring the clock down to the final three minutes.

The Colonials would control play for the remainder of the game to earn a trip to Tuesday's NEC Championship with the 66-53 final victory.

With the loss, the Bulldogs wrap up their 2014-15 season with a 16-15 overall record, having earned their first-ever NEC Tournament victory and finishing tied for second overall, the highest finish since joining the NEC.