Bryant outscored in second half, 59-32, in Friday’s 109-70 loss at No. 14/14 Gonzaga

SPOKANE, Wash. – The Bryant University men's basketball team hung tight with No. 14/14 Gonzaga for more than half the contest, trailing by just 10 with 15 minutes remaining, but the hosts closed the game on a 53-24 run and won Friday night's tilt, 109-70.

"We competed extremely hard tonight and gave it our all against a team that might have the pieces to win a national championship this year," said head coach Tim O'Shea.

Sophomore Nisre Zouzoua (Brockton, Mass.) led the Bulldogs (1-2) with a contest-best 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Freshman guard Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) was lights out in the first half, scoring all 17 of his points going 6-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-6 from downtown. Sophomore Marcel Pettway (North Providence, R.I.) and senior forward Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) tallied ten points and four boards and nine points and seven boards, respectively, as the two fouled out in the second half.

"I was extremely pleased with the way everyone played against a team as deep as Gonzaga, particularly the young guys yet again," said O'Shea. "I think this game is another example of why there is reason to be excited about our team going forward." 

Center Przemek Karnowski paced the five Zags (3-0) to finish in double-figures with his 22 points and eight rebounds, while forward Johnathan Williams had 20 points and matched Karnowski on the glass. Freshman center Zach Collins and guard Josh Perkins added 18 points apiece of a bench that combined for 51 and Nigel Williams-Goss netted 13 in the win. Gonzaga dominated inside with its size advantage, outscoring the visitors, 50-30.      

Despite surrendering the first eight Gonzaga points to 7-foot-1 center Karnowski, the Bulldogs took a 9-8 lead just three minutes in on their fourth basket from inside. Silas Melson drained a three on the next possession, followed by a Williams-Goss basket in the paint to jumpstart a 21-3 run over a 5:51 span to open the game up, 29-12. Collins had seven points during the stretch and Williams-Goss had 11.

Still leading by 17 with 8:53 remaining in the first half, Grant hit the first of three-straight jumpers to single-handedly give his team an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to single digits at 34-25 at the 7:13 mark.

"Few teams in the country and even the NBA have the kind of size that Gonzaga has from top to bottom," said O'Shea. "We weren't afraid of the size discrepancy and really battled inside." 

The Zags widened the margin once again over the next four minutes with an 11-2 run capped off by five-straight points from Williams, giving them their largest lead to that point, 45-27. But five points from Zouzoua and Grant's fourth three of the half trimmed the lead once again over the final 2:27 to make it 50-38 at the break.

The Bulldogs got to within 10 points, 56-46, just over four minutes into the second half on a Sabastian Townes (Chesapeake, Va.) turnaround jumper over Karnowski from the foul line. But Karnowski and Williams led a 10-2 run over the next 2:51 to give the Zags an 18 point edge.

The Zags began to hit shots from the perimeter and utilize their size advantage even more by taking contact and getting to the free-throw line. Five of their seven triples were made in the second frame and 20 of their 34 buckets from the charity stripe fell in the second stanza, as the lead quickly blossomed and did not dip below 20 points over the final eight minutes.

"Obviously the foul trouble really hurt us and it's very difficult to stay in any game when you're outshot at the line by nearly 30," said O'Shea. "But overall, the final was not indicative of how we competed and I think this experience was night-and-day compared to the first time we came here in 2013. We have a lot of positive things to build on heading into the rest of our trip."    

The Bulldogs get back to Legends Classic play in the Sub-regional rounds at host Eastern Washington on Monday at 9:05 p.m. eastern time.