Bulldogs lose 17-point halftime edge, fall to Red Flash, 71-65, Thursday night in Smithfield

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's basketball team held a 17-point halftime lead, but were outscored by Saint Francis University, 43-20, in the second half, delivering the hosts a heartbreaking 71-65 Northeast Conference loss on Thursday night at the Chace Athletic Center.

Junior forward Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) led the Bulldogs (7-13, 4-3 NEC) with 14 points, 12 of which were in the first half, to go along with a team-high eight boards and a season-best four rejections. Senior Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) and sophomore Hunter Ware (Powder Springs, Ga.) each tallied 12 points with four and five rebounds, respectively, while McLaughlin distributed a contest-best seven assists.

Isaiah Blackmon scored a game-leading 19 points for the Red Flash (8-10, 4-3), 16 of which came in the second half, on an 8-for-10 effort from the floor. Ben Millaud-Meunier and Ronnie Drinnon each netted 12 points, as Drinnon grabbed eight boards. Josh Nebo posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 caroms in the win.

The Bulldogs shot 59 percent from the field in the first frame (16-27) and 50 percent from deep (6-12), but just 30 percent from the floor (7-23) and they were 0-for-8 from beyond the arc in the second stanza.  

The Red Flash made just 31 percent of their jumpers from 2-point territory in the opening half (9-29) and 23 percent of their shots from long range (3-13), but erupted to hit shots from both distances at clips above .600 in the second half, going 16-for-26 from the field and 6-for-10 from distance.

The Bulldogs utilized a 15-2 run over the final 4:18 of the opening frame to take a 45-28 edge into halftime.

How it happened

The Red Flash scored the first basket of the contest on a Drinnon mid-range jumper from the corner, but the Black and Gold scored the next five points. Nebo hit a layup at the 17:36 mark to make it 5-4 in favor of the hosts, who retaliated by scoring the next six points capped off by a Nisre Zouzoua (Brockton, Mass.) steal and dunk on the breakaway with 16:19 to go in the stanza.

The Bulldog advantage remained steady, not dipping below five points and getting as large as 10 over the next 11 minutes of action. Millaud-Meunier sank a triple to cut the SFU deficit to just four points, 30-26, at the 4:34 mark, but Curtis Oakley Jr. (South Euclid, Ohio) answered with a corner trey to kick start the 15-2 Bryant run over the ensuing four minutes.

It was smooth sailing for the hosts in the first half, but the winds died down in the second half and the Red Flash were red hot, seemingly operating a speed boat in a race against a kayak heading upstream.     

Milllaud-Meunier drilled back-to-back threes in front of his own bench to open up the second half, cutting the Red Flash deficit to 11 points, 45-34, just one minute in. The Bulldogs held onto their double-digit margin for the next seven minutes until Blackmon connected on a corner 3-pointer in front of the Red Flash bench to bring them to within eight, 55-47, at the 11:44 mark.

The visitors brought it down to four points, 59-55, at the 9:32 mark following a Blackmon layup and a Drinnon triple from the top of the key. McLaughlin scored on consecutive trips for the Black and Gold to keep it ahead, 61-55, with 9:15 to play in the second.

Blackmon connected on a jumper in the paint just 25 second later to ignite a 10-0 run for SFU over the ensuing six minutes, providing it with its first lead since the opening possession of the game. Blackmon scored six of those 10 points as the Red Flash took control of the action and snatched the energy out of the Smithfield crowd. The Bulldogs went just 3-for-10 over the final 10 minutes of the second stanza, and could not get back into the contest, as it trailed the final 3:34 and suffered a difficult home loss.

Bryant will return to the court on Saturday, as it wraps up this four-game home stand with a battle against conference rival and reigning NEC tourney champs, Robert Morris. This weekend's contest is set to tip off at 4:05 p.m. and can be streamed live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.