Bulldogs overcome 12-point deficit, but lose second-half lead and fall to Seahawks, 65-56, Thursday night in Staten Island

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The Bryant University men's basketball team overcame a pair of double-digit deficits to grab its first lead with 8:55 to play in the second half, but Wagner College took back the edge late in regulation and pulled away at the end for a 65-56 victory on Thursday night at the Spiro Sports Center.

Junior forward Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) paced the Bulldogs (5-11, 2-1 NEC) with a game-best 14 points on a .500 clip from the floor to go along with six boards and two blocks. Sophomore guard Hunter Ware (Powder Springs, Ga.) netted 11 points and senior captain Curtis Oakley Jr. (South Euclid, Ohio) charted 12 points and six boards in the loss, as the combo hit five of the team's six 3-pointers.

Corey Henson led the Seahawks (9-5, 2-1 NEC) with 11 points and a trio of makes from beyond the arc, followed by 10 points apiece from Japhet Kadji and Michael Carey, who snared a contest-high 15 ricochets. Dwaun Anderson added nine points with eight rebounds and a game-high four rejections.

A Carey layup made it 43-40 with 13:47 to go in regulation, but the Bulldogs attained their first lead of the game at the 8:55 mark after a Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) free throw made it 44-43. The make from the line was in the middle of a 7-0 Bryant run that was capped off by a Garvin two-handed slam off of the feed from McLaughlin on the pick-and-roll.

Following a Kadji layup on the ensuing possession, freshman Nisre Zouzoua (Brockton, Mass.) theft JoJo Cooper leading to a Garvin tipin on the fast break to make it 49-45 in favor of the Bulldogs with 5:22 to go.

Three-straight points from Mike Aaman kick started a 10-0 Seahawk run over nearly three full minutes to give the hosts all the momentum with a 55-49 edge and under two minutes left in the stanza. The Bulldogs would get no closer than four points from the 1:52 mark on, as Wagner built its lead to as many as 12 down the stretch thanks to six makes from the line.   

The Bulldogs struggled on the offensive end through the first half of the opening frame, hitting just one of their 10 field goal attempts through the first 11:30 of play. Trailing, 20-8, at the 8:56 mark of the opening 20, frosh Marcel Pettway (North Providence, R.I.) connected on a nice left-handed bucket after backing his defender down in the post, followed by a Zouzoua layup and a pair of Ware freebies to bring the visitors to within six, 20-14, with 6:30 to go.

After the Seahawks built up their second double-digit advantage of the opening half to lead 28-16 with under four minutes to go, Garvin sank a layin off of a nice bounce pass from Oakley Jr. to make it 28-18 at the 3:14 mark. The basket sparked a 9-0 Bulldog run to get them right back into the contest, pinning them down by just three, 28-25, with a minute to play in the frame.

Kadji drained a triple from the top of the key on the ensuing possession to end the run, but Garvin hit his fourth layup of the half with 17 seconds left, leaving the Black and Gold down, 31-27, at the half. Although the Bulldogs were able to remain within striking distance and take a slim advantage midway through the final stanza, the Seahawks found energy sourcing from the raucous crowd in the CBS Sports Network contest and pulled away late, sending Bryant to its first conference loss of the year.

The Bulldogs will wrap up their three-game road trip on Saturday when they take on the NEC leaders, Mount St. Mary's (3-0 in the conference). The 2:00 p.m. showcase against the Mountaineers in Emmitsburg, Md., can be watched online on NECFrontRow.com.