Garvin’s double-double not enough as Bryant drops home tilt to Brown, 76-68, Saturday afternoon

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team trimmed what was a 22- point second-half deficit down to seven with just over a minute to play, but it was too little too late, as Brown held on for a 76-68 win Saturday afternoon at the Chace Athletic Center.

Junior forward Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) posted his first double-double of the young 2015-16 season and 10th of his career, scoring 12 points and grabbing a team- and game-high 16 rebounds while denying two shots to give him 96 career blocks.

Freshman guard Nisre Zouzoua (Brockton, Mass.) led the way for the Bulldogs (2-7) with 18 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the field and a 4-of-11 clip from beyond the arc – his best scoring game since registering 23 against Emerson on Nov. 18.

Sophomore guard Hunter Ware (Powder Springs, Ga.) and senior captain Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J) would add 15 and 11 points, respectively, with both players corralling five boards. McLaughlin dished out a contest-best eight assists in the game.

The Bears (3-5) were paced by 19 points from both Justin Massey and Tavon Blackmon. The two would combine to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor (12-23), with Massey nailing a game-best four triples. Brown bigman Cedric Kuakumensah added 14 points, all coming in the second half.

Facing a 33-25 halftime deficit, the Bulldogs opened up second-half action by connecting on their first three shot attempts to bring the margin down to five points at the 17:38 mark.

The Bears would retort with an 8-3 run over the ensuing three minutes to renew a double-digit advantage, 43-33.

The Brown stretch continued to sprout, developing into a 24-7 streak spanning nearly seven minutes of action, as it took a 59-37 lead with 11:43 to play.

A Zouzoua three, followed by a Garvin three-point play and Zach Chionuma (Jamesville, N.Y.) bucket cut the Bear lead to 14, 59-45, with 9:40 remaining in the period.

The Bryant deficit remained in the teens for the next six minutes of play, before McLaughlin drained a step-back three to bring the Bulldogs within 12 points, 68-56, with 3:45 to go.

A Ware floater in the paint made it 68-60 with just under two minutes remaining, bringing the deficit back to single digits for the first time in over 15 minutes of second-half play.

The scores were part of a 16-5 Bryant run that stretched 6:07 and would be capped off by Zouzoua's fourth three of the frame to cut the Brown lead to seven points with 1:21 remaining.

The Bears would not allow the hosts to inch any closer, though, as they held off their intrastate rival, 76-68, and gave the Bulldogs a sixth-straight loss.

It was a shaky opening stanza for Bryant, taking 2:30 minutes before points were scored, as Ware would drain his first two shot attempts of the game for a second-consecutive outing.

A Blackmon trey would make it 10-4 in favor of Brown at the 15:59 mark, forcing head coach Tim O'Shea to use his first timeout of the half. Zouzoua would score four-straight points for the Bulldogs immediately out of the 30-second break, cutting the score to 13-7 with 14:07 to play in the frame.

The sides continued to trade baskets from that point on, though the overall theme of the first half would be timely shooting for Brown. The Bears would one-up each basket Bryant made en route to a 12-point, 23-11 lead off a JR Hobbie trey with 7:46 to go in the half.

The Bulldogs cut the deficit back to single digits but did not draw within six points over the final 13 minutes of the frame, as the Bears took a 33-25 halftime edge.  

The Black and Gold would shoot less than 30 percent (10-35) from the floor and would not sink a triple in the first half (0-8) before ultimately converting nearly 35 percent from the field on the game and finishing 6-of-26 from deep.

The Bears would shoot just under 45 percent from the floor (12-28) and 40 percent from long range (6-15) in the opening 20 minutes before finishing the afternoon at 44.6 percent with a 12-of-28 mark from beyond the arc.

Next on tap for the Black and Gold is a Tuesday night home contest against Army. The 7:00 p.m. tip from the Chace Athletic Center can be seen on NECFrontRow.com and heard on WOON 1240AM.