Ndugba’s career high not enough in Bryant’s 75-69 loss to Dartmouth Thursday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Despite a career-high 18 points from freshman point guard Ikenna Ndugba (Boston, Mass.), Dartmouth used the games largest stretch, an 11-0 run with under seven minutes to go in the second half, to retake a lead it would not relinquish, handing the Bryant University men's basketball team a 75-69 loss in Thursday's up-and-down contest.

"As soon as they went to a 3-2 zone in the second half we turned to the three a little too much and did not work it inside as much as we did in the first half," said head coach Tim O'Shea. "Guys got tentative unfortunately and though the shots that we took were good looks, they just didn't fall for us."

Ndugba went 6-for-13 from the floor and drained a pair of treys while also adding a game-high seven assists and six rebounds for the Bulldogs (3-9). Sophomore Nisre Zouzoua (Brockton, Mass.) netted 15 points and five rebounds but was just 3-of-11 from long range. Classmate Marcel Pettway (North Providence, R.I.) scored 12 points and grabbed five boards, junior Bosko Kostur (Melbourne, Australia) added 10 points of the bench and junior Gus Riley (Nelson, New Zealand) scored six points and corralled a team-best eight rebounds. Freshman Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) was held in check for the first time this season, as he scored a season-low six points on 2-of-12 shooting and no triples.

"Nisre and Adam are relied upon heavily for us and they just had off days," said O'Shea. "Ikenna had a breakout game today and he made a couple threes which he had been struggling with. It was his best game and will give him some confidence going into conference play. If we can get more game like today from him and continue to get strong play from guys like Marcel and Gus, who gave us real good minutes, we'll be right there in conference."

Guilien Smith led the Big Green (2-9) with 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting and a 5-for-9 effort from distance, as he scored 21 points in the first frame. Miles Wright tallied 16 points and eight rebounds, Evan Boudreaux scored 14 and grabbed a game-high nine boards and Ian Sistare netted 10 points.

It was a back-and-forth first half, as no team led by more than nine and each held leads of at least seven points. The Big Green completed a 22-10 run over a span of nine minutes to give itself the nine-point edge, 38-29, but Riley drained a three with 11 seconds to go to make it 38-32 at the break.

The Bulldogs scored the first seven points of the second half to retake the lead less than three minutes into the frame, 39-38. Following three ties and eight lead changes over the next 10 minutes, Ndugba connected on his second-straight three to give Bryant a 59-53 lead.

But two Sistare free throws and a Boudreaux three-point play kick started the 11-0 run from the 6:33 mark to the 4:01 mark to give Dartmouth a 68-61 edge. The run was capped off by a Wright fastbreak layup after he emphatically denied Grant at the rim on the other end.

A Pettway layup with 3:41 to play gave Bryant its first field goal and points in over three minutes. But Dartmouth answered the Bulldogs' final three made field goals with six free throws to hold onto a lead that did not dip below six over the final 4:38.       

"I think we played a tough nonconference schedule and we had a lot of good moments in stretches, but not a complete 40 minutes," said O'Shea. "It's a young team and the biggest thing for us will be consistency and I think we'll improve on that against the league. We're certainly talented enough and have the pieces to compete with anyone in an NEC that is wide open right now."

The Bulldogs return to the hardwood on Thursday, Dec. 29 for the start of Northeast Conference action when they take on St. Francis Brooklyn on the road at 4:00 p.m.