Bulldogs trail the full 40 minutes, fall to Seahawks, 79-55, Saturday afternoon in Smithfield

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team fell into an early 17-3 hole, but climbed their way out to trail by only eight at the half, but Wagner separated in the second frame with a 42-26 scoring margin to take Saturday's Northeast Conference matchup, 79-55, at the Chace Athletic Center.

Sophomore guard Hunter Ware (Powder Springs, Ga.) paced the Bulldogs (9-20, 4-10 NEC) on the stat sheet with 21 point on a 7-for-10 effort from the floor, sinking four of his five 3-point attempts. Freshman wing Nisre Zouzoua (Brockton, Mass.) went 9-for-10 from the free throw line to help tally his 13 points.

Though no other Bulldog finished in double-figures, sophomore Bosko Kostur (Melbourne, Australia) gave his team a quality performance off the bench. Kostur scored eight points, grabbed two boards, distributed a career-high three assists and recorded a huge block in 22 minutes on the floor.

Romone Saunders led the Seahawks (16-9, 9-5) with a contest-best 24 points on a 7-for-11 clip from long range. Mike Aaman and Aaren Edmead posted 13 and 11 points, respectively. Wagner connected on 12 of its 25 3-pointers and shot 49 percent from the floor (28-57).

Bryant shot just 37 percent from the field (17-46) and 31 percent from beyond the arc (5-16). Although the Bulldogs had 13 turnovers to the Seahawks' nine, the visitors were able to turn those change of possessions into 21 points.

It was a sloppy opening three minutes as both sides combined to convert 1-of-10 from the floor. Aaman netted five freebies after getting fouled on the block three times, and Ware drained a mid-range jumper to make it 5-3 in favor of the Seahawks with just over 17 minutes remaining in the frame.

The tempo elevated tremendously from there, as Devin Liggeons drained a triple at the 16:44 mark to give the visitors their first basket of the contest. It initiated a 12-0 run over a 2:30 span to give Wagner a commanding 17-3 lead not even six minutes into the action.

With the Bryant deficit still at 14 points, 24-10, at the 8:20 mark, Ware sank a jumper to spark a 12-1 Bulldog stretch that was capped off by a two-handed slam from Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) set up by a beautiful pass from Kostur in the paint. It brought Bryant to within three points, 25-22, with just under three minutes in the stanza.  

The Bulldogs were able to trim the Seahawks' lead to just one point, 30-29, with 1:38 to play in the half following another Kostur to Garvin connection and three makes at the charity stripe from Ware.

Wagner was able to fend off the Bryant comeback with a 7-0 run to close out the half, as Michael Carey scored the final five points in a 39 second window to give the visitors a 37-29 halftime edge.   

The Seahawks scored the first six points of the second frame to regain a double-digit edge, 43-29, just two minutes in, and they were able to maintain the double-digit advantage for the next six minutes. A monstrous chase-down block on Corey Henson from Kostur led to a Ware bucket from the free throw line to make it 53-43 with just under 13 minutes to go.

Kostur drove to the rack and laid it in with both hands on the following Bulldog possession to bring the hosts within single digits, 53-45.

Bryant would get no closer, as Wagner responded with a furious 20-4 run over the next 7:52 to grab a 73-49 lead with just over four minutes to play in the second frame, essentially closing the door on the game. The Bulldogs went just 1-of-10 from the floor and 0-for-2 from distance in that stretch, as the Seahawks splashed in 8-of-14 shots from the field and 4-of-6 shots from the perimeter.  

The loss sends Bryant its ninth consecutive, dropping it to 4-9 in the conference and still keeping it one place outside of an NEC postseason position with four games remaining.    

The first of those four games is a rematch of the Jan. 30 thriller that saw Sacred Heart defeat the Black and Gold, 72-71, in Fairfield. The Thursday night matchup against the Pioneers at the Chace Athletic Center is set to tip off at 7:00 p.m.