Zouzoua’s career high catapults Bulldogs to 64-57 win over Louisiana-Monroe Tuesday night

CHENEY, Wash. – Trailing, 37-30, with 15:57 to play in the second half, the Bryant University men's basketball amped up the efficiency on the offensive end, connecting on 16 of its final 25 shots to outscore Louisiana-Monroe, 34-20, and win the Consolation Game of the Legends Classic Sub-Regional rounds, 64-57.

Sophomore Nisre Zouzoua (Brockton, Mass.) carried the Bulldogs (2-3), netting a career-high 30 points on 13-of-22 shooting while also adding six boards, as he was named to the Legends Classic Sub-Regional All-Tournament Team. Classmate Marcel Pettway (North Providence, R.I.) had his best game of the year with 10 points and eight boards, and senior Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) had eight points, five rebounds and four blocks. Freshman Ikenna Ndugba (Boston, Mass.) did not make a shot, but pulled down a game-high nine rebounds and dished out a contest-best five assists.

"Nisre was tremendous for us tonight and had a breakout performance that we knew he was capable of having," said head coach Tim O'Shea.  

Sam McDaniel paced the Warhawks (1-4) with 17 points and nine caroms, shooting 50.0 percent from the floor and beyond the arc. Travis Munnings had 10 points and eight rebounds, while Nick Coppola and Marvin Jean-Pierre added eight and seven points, respectively.

"This was a much needed win for the team," said O'Shea. "I thought it was great for the confidence of our guys to get that first victory away from home, having such a young team."

The first half was back-and-forth the whole way with seven lead changes and three ties. Neither side led by more than four and though the Warhawks led for 12 minutes, the Bulldogs went into the locker room with a 26-25 edge thanks to 17 points from Zouzoua and Garvin. Ndugba pulled down six boards in the first frame and Garvin had three blocks.

The Warhawks used a 7-0 run to open up the second-half to take a 32-26 lead. After a McDaniel three made it 37-30, Bryant answered with a reverse layup from Garvin and a three from freshman Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) to get within two, 37-35, at the 14:45 mark.

The baskets were part of a 9-0 run that was capped off a Pettway layup, after he set up the tying basket at the 14:45 mark with an emphatic block that led to a Zouzoua spin move and layup.

But Jean-Pierre answered with a three on the following possession for yet another lead change at the 13:00 mark. There were three lead changes over the next two minutes, as the final came on a Gus Riley (Nelson, New Zealand) layup at the 10:52 mark. It kick started a 13-5 run that was fueled by eight points from Zouzoua and gave the Bulldogs their largest lead, 56-47, with 6:16 remaining.

The Bulldogs led by no fewer than five over the final six minutes, as Zouzoua poured in 19 points in the second half and the team kept the intensity up on the defensive side.  

"The biggest difference for us tonight was our zone defense," said O'Shea. "Having put our last two opponents at the free throw line well over 30 times each, to only give up three free throws tonight was huge. I think our zone defense allowed us to play better as a whole, we weren't fouling as much and may have found something to put us in a position to succeed going forward."    

Bryant surrendered just three attempts at the charity stripe following a combined 78 over the last two contests. The Black and Gold went 26-of-54 from the field including that 16-for-25 stretch to close out the game, as it held the Warhawks to just a .280 clip from distance.

"We now go into this Northwestern game with some confidence which is great for us to hopefully close out this roadtrip on a real high note."

The Bulldogs wrap up Legends Classic play and the four-game roadtrip at Northwestern on Friday at 2:00 p.m. eastern.