Bulldogs fall victim to New Hampshire’s hot second-half shooting in Saturday’s 86-73 loss

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's basketball team built up an eight-point lead at halftime, but the University of New Hampshire was lights out in the second frame and outscored the hosts, 59-38, to win Saturday afternoon's matchup, 86-73. 

Freshman guard Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) led the Bulldogs (3-8) in scoring for the second-straight game with 19 points, while four of his teammates also scored in double-figures. Sophomore Marcel Pettway (North Providence, R.I.) scored 16 points and had six rebounds, classmate Nisre Zouzoua (Brockton, Mass.) had 13 points all in the second half, freshman Sabastian Townes (Chesapeake, Va.) matched that total with 13 points and junior Bosko Kostur (Melbourne, Australia) tallied 11 points.

The Wildcats (7-3) were fueled by 28 points from Jaleen Smith on 8-of-11 shooting and 24 points from Daniel Dion behind six triples. Tanner Leiessner added 12 points and seven rebounds, as the team shot over 60.0 percent from both the field and long range in the second half.     

Having led by as many as 10 early on in the first half, the Bulldogs went into the locker room with a 35-27 advantage. But the Wildcats caught fire in the second, scoring 30 points less than nine minutes into the frame to take a 57-50 lead with 11:47 to play.

New Hampshire was able to extend its lead to double-digits for the first time at the 7:50 mark on its eighth triple of the half. Bryant was unable to get any closer than seven from that point on, as the shots kept falling for the Wildcats.

The visitors went 9-for-14 from beyond the arc in the second and 16-for-24 from the floor, as they also drilled all 18 of their free throws. Bryant made six triples in the second stanza, but could not stop the deep ball when it needed to.  

Dion hit a three on the game's first possession, but five-straight points from Grant initiated a 13-0 to give the Bulldogs a double-digit lead less than five minutes into the game.

The lead remained no smaller than four over the next five minutes, as Bryant held a 19-12 edge at the 10:35 mark. Kijana Love splashed in a triple on the ensuing Wildcat trip to start a 10-0 run, capped off by another Dion three to give them their second lead of the afternoon, 22-19.

But Kostur and Grant combined for a 9-0 Bulldog run across the next 3:24 which ultimately turned into a 16-5 run over the final 7:24 of the half to give the hosts their eight-point lead at the break.

A Zouzoua three 1:30 into the final frame gave Bryant a 41-34 lead, but from there New Hampshire utilized a 17-6 run to take a 51-47 edge with 13:48. The visitors limited Bryant to just one field goal in the stretch, as it was a lead they would not lose the rest of the way.

Following 11 games over the first 29 days of the season, the Bulldogs will look to rest up with 11 days before their next contest, which is on Dec. 22 against Dartmouth at 11:00 a.m.