Zouzoua nets game-high 20 points in the Bulldogs’ 71-53 loss to the Mount on Senior Day

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's basketball team was outscored, 22-7, over the final 12 minutes of the first half to trail 30-18 at the intermission, and the game got no closer than eight in the second frame, as the hosts fell to Mount St. Mary's, 71-53, on Saturday afternoon.

Freshman Nisre Zouzoua (Brockton, Mass.) led all scorers and paced the Bulldogs (7-22, 4-12 NEC) for a fourth-straight game with 20 points on a 6-for-13 effort from the floor and 7-of-8 from the line. Rookie bigman Marcel Pettway (North Providence, R.I.) netted 13 points and grabbed seven boards, and senior captain Curtis Oakley Jr. (South Euclid, Ohio) pulled down a career-high nine caroms.

Junior Robinson spearheaded the Mountaineers (13-16, 10-6) on the scoreboard with 17 points, despite going just 3-for-13 from the field, as he converted 10 of his 12 free throw attempts. Charles Glover scored 13 points, and BK Ashe charted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Bryant shot 32 percent from the field (18-56) and 14 percent from long range (2-14). The Mount shot 37.5 percent from the floor (21-56) and 32 percent from beyond the arc (9-28).

The four seniors, captains Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) and Oakley, and Dennis Levene (Weston, Conn.) and Zach Chionuma (Jamesville, N.Y.) started the game and two of them scored the first four points for the Bulldogs. The Mount came out struggling from the floor, missing their first four shots, with the first make coming at the 15:37 mark to make it 4-3 in favor of the hosts.

The Mountaineers capped off a 6-0 run to grab their first lead just 30 seconds later, but the Bulldogs would tie it and attain a pair of three-point edges over the next three minutes.

Leading, 11-8, with 12:07 to play in the stanza, a Taylor Danaher turnaround jumper sparked a 10-0 visitor run to give them an 18-11 advantage with under six minutes remaining. The Black and Gold experienced a seven minute scoring drought, going 0-for-8 from the floor during the Mountaineer stretch.

Zouzoua splashed in a triple to end the Mount run, making it 18-14 with 5:35 to go, but the visitors scored the next eight points of the contest to grab their largest lead of the half, 26-14, with under three to play.

The Bulldogs got no closer than eight points, and trailed by 12 at the break, 30-18, as it was their lowest scoring half all season.

The Bryant deficit got up to as many as 18 in the second frame, and dipped no lower than eight, as the former gap was the final margin, 71-53, when the clock hit 0:00. The loss is an 11th-straight for the Bulldogs.

The Black and Gold will wrap up the regular season in Brooklyn, first taking on St. Francis on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.