Looking to remain in NEC postseason position, Bulldogs battle Colonials on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Moon Township

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team will wrap up its four-game road swing in Moon, Pa. against Robert Morris. The Saturday afternoon tilt is set to tip off at 4:00 p.m.

THE SERIES
Saturday's matchup marks the 14th all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and the Colonials, with this weekend's hosts holding a commanding 11-2 series edge. Robert Morris is 6-0 in Smithfield, but the only two Bryant wins in the series have come in Moon Township where the Colonials hold a 5-2 advantage. The Bulldogs fell to the Colonials, 65-54, on Jan. 24.

SCOUTING THE COLONIALS
Robert Morris has just one player scoring in double-figures, though that player, being senior Rodney Pryor, ranks second in the NEC with 18.0 points per game. Pryor also leads the Colonials in rebounds per contest (7.4) and shoots at a .435 clip from the floor. Junior Kavon Stewart nets 9.0 points per effort and he sits second in the league in assists per game (4.65). Junior Billy Giles nets just 7.3 points per effort, but he leads the team and sits fifth in the conference with a 55.3 shooting percentage from the floor. The Colonials have struggled offensively this season, ranking in the bottom three in scoring offense, field-goal percentage and three-point field-goal percentage among NEC teams. Robert Morris makes up for the offensive woes on the defensive end, ranking second in the league in both steals and blocks per game. 

TOP DAWGS VS. ROBERT MORRIS
Junior bigman Dan Garvin averages 9.8 points and 6.8 boards in his five career matchups with the Colonials. The third-year forward scored just five points, but pulled down 10 rebounds in the two team's first encounter of the season on Jan. 23. Senior captain Shane McLaughlin was held scoreless in the Jan. 23rd matchup, but over his last four games against Robert Morris, he averages 7.7 assists. Freshman Marcel Pettway charted a double-double in his first and only meeting with the Colonials with 21 points and 10 caroms. Sophomore Hunter Ware acounted for just 1.7 points per effort in the three games against RMU last season, but he netted 15 points in the Jan. 23rd meeting. Current Black and Gold players are shooting a combined 50.3 percent (78-155) from the floor and 42.5 percent from beyond the arc (23-55) when squaring off against the Colonials.

BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE  
The Bulldogs are 4-7 against Northeast Conference competition in 2015-16 with an overall record of 47-69 (.405) against current NEC members since joining the Division I ranks. Prior to the 2012-13 campaign, Bryant held a 9-44 record against conference opponents, but has recorded a 38-25 record (.603) over the last three seasons. The Black and Gold are 22-11 at home versus the NEC and 19-16 on the road since 2012-13. All-time against current conference institutions, the Bulldog basketball program is 61-86 (.414).

LAST TIME OUT
The Bulldogs took a 10-point edge into halftime and expanded it into a 15-point lead less than two minutes into the second half, but Saint Francis U. stormed back with a 17-3 run over a six minute stretch, and concluded the contest with a 17-2 run spanning the final five minutes to win Thursday's game, 63-57, in Loretto. Freshman forward Marcel Pettway secured his eighth double-double of the season with 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds while dishing out two assists, blocking a pair of shots, and collecting three steals. Rookie guard Nisre Zouzoua tallied 13 points, as he connected on three triples, and senior captain Curtis Oakley Jr. added 10 points. Basil Thompson paced the Red Flash with 16 points to go along with eight boards, and Ronnie Drinnon was a major contributor with 12 points all coming in the second frame to pair with a game-best 16 rebounds. Ben Millaud-Meunier and Josh Nebo posted 10 points each with six and eight caroms, respectively. The Black and Gold shot 36 percent from the floor (22-61) and 29 percent from long range (7-24). The Red Flash were held to just 31.7 percent from the field (20-63) and 19 percent (4-21) from downtown.  
 
QUICK HITS
» Deceptive Percentages: The Bulldogs lost Thursday's contest to the Red Flash despite holding SFU to a mere 31 percent from the floor and 19 percent from long range. It was the lowest percentage from 3-point land that Bryant had allowed all season and it was the first time the program had restricted an opponent from exceeding 31 and 19 percent from the floor and beyond the arc, respectively, in a game since joining the Division I ranks.
 
» Roller Coaster: After opening conference play winning four of the first five games, the Bulldogs have dropped the last six NEC matchups. The Black and Gold have not been defeated in six or more league contests in a row since the 2011-2012 season.

» Dan the Man: Junior forward Dan Garvin netted a career-high 25 points and corralled 14 boards for his fourth double-double of the season and the 13th of his career in the Bulldogs' loss at Sacred Heart on Jan. 30. It makes Garvin just the second player in Bryant's DI tenure to record at least 25 points and 14 rebounds in a game, and just the third Bulldog to chart those numbers since the 2001-2002 campaign.

TURN-A-MENT TO BE
With just six games remaining on the 2015-16 schedule, the Bulldogs sit tied for eighth with Robert Morris in the Northeast Conference. To say that Saturday's matchup is a must win may be slightly premature, but a victory would certainly go a long way in determining whether or not Bryant can hold its own destiny. Eight teams can secure an NEC tournament spot, so a win over the Colonials would create slight seperation heading into the final three weeks of thre regular season, as the Black and Gold return home for four tilts following this weekend.

DON'T DROP THAT HALF-TIME LEAD
The Bulldogs have now lost three-straight games when leading at the half, two of which came at the hands of Saint Francis U., which the Bulldogs held a double-digit halftime edge over in both matchups against the Red Flash this season. After blowing their largest halftime lead in a losing effort against The Red Flash (17 points) on Jan. 21, Bryant fell to SFU on Thursday after they attained a 10-point advantage before the intermission. The Bulldogs have lost just six games in which they held a double-figure halftime edge in their Division I tenure.

AND THESE FRESHMEN AIN'T NEVER DID THIS BEFORE, NO
The Bulldogs have a bright future in rookie bigman Marcel Pettway and first-year guard Nisre Zouzoua, but are well positioned in the present as well. The freshmen are averaging 11.4 and 10.7 points per game, respectively, to rank them second and third among NEC rookies, as Pettway nets 15.4 points per contest in conference play, ranking him fourth overall and first among league froshes. The forward-guard combo amasses 22.1 points per effort, and rank inside the top 20 among all newcomer scoring duos at the Division I level.  

MODEL OF ASSISTANCY
Senior captain Shane McLaughlin nearly charted a triple-double by netting 21 points, grabbing a career-high 10 caroms, and dishing out eight assists in the 2OT win over Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 9, making the guard the first player in Bryant's Division I history to record at least 20 points, 10 boards and five assists in a game. McLaughlin has now distributed at least five assists in 10 of the last 13 contests. The Old Tappan, N.J. native leads the Northeast Conference in assists per game with 5.17 and 6.09 helpers in conference play.   

HIGH MILEAGE FOR MCLAUGHLIN
Senior point guard Shane McLaughlin is once again proving to be a workhorse for the Bulldogs on the court, playing 34 minutes or more in 23 of the season's first 24 contests. The Old Tappan, N.J., native was third in the NEC last year with an average of 36.68 minutes per game and currently sits first as a senior with an average of 37.79 minutes per outing (fourth nationally). As a starter (67 games), McLaughlin has played 37 minutes or more 39 times. He has played the entire game nine times in the span, including all 50 minutes in a double-overtime win against Sacred Heart in last year's NEC Tournament. McLaughlin logged 48 minutes on the floor in the double-overtime win over Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 9.

FREE THROW WOES
The Bulldogs have struggled from the charity stripe throughout the 2015-16 season, finishing under 60 percent in 11 of the team's 24 contests. Bryant's worst performance of the year came Nov. 28 against Georgetown, when the Black and Gold went just 5-for-15 from the line (.333), converting less than 40 percent of their free throw attempts for the first time since a 4-of-11 (.364) performance against Mount St. Mary's back on Jan. 14, 2012. Bryant has finished at 50 percent or less six times this season (.462 vs. Prairie View A&M, .462 at Yale, .500 at Michigan, .500 at Providence, .500 at Duke) and currently ranks fifth to last in Division I with a 61.3 percent clip on the year.

ON THE REBOUND
The Bulldogs have been outrebounded in 20 of their 24 games this season, losing the battle on the glass in each of the first 12 games to begin the year. This was the first time in the program's Division I history the team had opened a campaign on the short side on the glass in 12-straight outings. The last time the Bulldogs were outboarded in more than seven-straight games at any point in a season was back in 2011-12, when the team lost the battle on the boards in nine-consecutive games from Nov. 27-Jan. 5. To find the last time the squad was outrebounded in 12 or more straight contests, you must look all the way back to the 2009-10 season, when the Bulldogs lost the board battle in 20 in a row from Dec. 3-Feb. 13.

LINEUP DANCING
Through 24 games in this 2015-16 campaign, the Bulldogs have unveiled eight variations of their starting lineup. Head coach Tim O'Shea has repeated a starting lineup just twice this year, but has found success in a consistent opening five of late. The cast of senior Shane McLaughlin, sophomore Hunter Ware, freshman Nisre Zouzoua, freshman Marcel Pettway and junior Dan Garvin have earned 15-consecutive starting nods from Dec. 8 - Feb. 4. The Bulldogs have not seen eight or more editions of a starting lineup since the 2011-12 season.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs return to the Chace Athletic Center for the final home stretch of the regular season, as they take on Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday at 9:00 p.m. The game can be watched live on MSG Plus.