Bulldogs host Crimson on MLK Day at 7:00 p.m. in final non-conference game of the year

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I -- The Bryant University men's basketball team concludes its three-game homestand and non-conference play when it hosts Harvard Monday at 7:00 p.m. on NECFrontRow.com and WOON 1240 AM (Jon Wallach and Tristan Hobbes).  

THE SERIES
Monday's Martin Luther King Day matchup marks the sixth between the Bulldogs and Crimson. Bryant has yet to defeat Harvard (0-5) and suffered its largest defeat in the series in Cambridge last season, 80-45. But the last two meetings in Smithfield resulted in Harvard wins that were by a combined 12 points.  

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON
After dropping three of its first five games of the year, Harvard has triumphed in seven of its last eight games, four of those being double-digit victories. The balanced Crimson has eight players averaging at least 5.0 points per game, led by a pair of talented freshman. Guard Bryce Aiken nets 13.6 points per game on a .410 clip from the floor, while forward Seth Towns scores 11.0 points per effort. Senior guard Siyani Chambers is the only member of the team to start each game he has played in, as he nets 8.4 points per game and sits ninth nationally with 6.4 assists per game. Frosh forward Chris Lewis scores 8.3 points per contest in 18.1 minutes per game and converts 66.7 percent of his shots and sophomore guard Corey Johnson tallies 8.2 points per game. The top defensive unit in the Ivy League, Harvard ranks 26th nationally allowing 63.5 points per game, 27th in field-goal defense and 44th in blocked shots per game.     

CURRENT DAWGS vs. HARVARD
Eight Bulldogs have squared off against the Crimson in their careers, three more than once. Senior forwad Dan Garvin has faced Harvard in each of the last three seasons and averages 8.0 points and 5.7 boards, but went just 1-for-10 last year for two points. Junior Bosko Kostur has played the Crimson twice and tallied 10 points against them last year, as did classmate Hunter Ware and sophomore Marcel Pettway. Ware grabbed six boards and Pettway grabbed eight in that matchup. 

BRYANT vs. THE IVY LEAGUE
Monday's matchup is the fourth and final contest against a member of the Ivy League in 2016-17 and the third at home. Bryant is 8-25 against Ivy League schools in its short Division I history, having matched up against Columbia (0-3), Brown (2-7), Cornell (0-2), Yale (3-6), Harvard (0-5) and most recently Dartmouth (3-3) over the last eight seasons. In the all-time history of the program, the Bulldogs are just 8-33 against Ivy League opponents.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bulldogs led by nine at halftime and as many as 13 in the second half, but Sacred Heart used an 11-0 run to tie the game with under nine minutes to play. As the sides went back-and-forth down the stretch, the Pioneers held a six-point lead with under 40 seconds to go. But freshman Adam Grant caught fire and drained three triples on consecutive possessions in the last minute, as the visitors missed a couple of free throws and the game went into OT. The team's traded blows and big shots to force two additional overtimes, but it was a Sacred Heart layup with 2.9 seconds left that was the difference in an epic 112-110 final Saturday afternoon. Grant connected on nine threes in total for 32 points, freshman Ikenna Nudgba scored 22 points, junior Bosko Kostur netted 16 points and freshman Sabastian Townes added 11 off the bench. 

ONE FOR THE AGES
The Bulldogs may have dropped Saturday's battle against Sacred Heart, 112-110, in triple overtime, but they will forever be apart of one of the greatest games in program and Northeast Conference history. It not only marked the first triple OT game that Bryant has played in at the Division I level, but it was the first in the league since Feb. 6, 2010. The 222 combined points are the most for an NEC contest since Feb. 22, 2003 and the second-most all time. It was also the first time since Feb. 21, 2005 that two NEC teams scored at least 100 points in the same game and just the second time that Bryant had been invlolved in a game where both teams tallied triple digit points.  

GOT THE SHOTS GOING IN ON A SATURDAY  
Freshman Adam Grant was unconscious from beyond the arc on Saturday, and his counterpart from Sacred Heart, Quincy McKnight, was lights out from the floor. Grant drilled a Bryant single-game record nine threes, including three straight in the final minute to send the game into overtime. The nine makes are the most for an NEC rookie in the league's history and tied for the sixth-most all-time. 

McKnight knocked down 16 shots and netted 44 points, the most for an NEC player since Sam Prescott of Mount St. Mary's did so against the Bulldogs on Feb. 14, 2013. His 44 points are tied for the eighth-most all-time in an NEC game. The last time two players scored at least 30 points in the same NEC game was Feb. 5, 2015.

FOR THE FIRST TIME
The Bulldogs' 110 points against Sacred Heart are the most in the program's Division I history. It was just the third time Bryant scored at least 100 points in a game at the DI ranks and it was the most points for the program since 2005-06. Bryant also connected on 40 field goals, the first time it has done so at the DI level, and the 85 attempts from the floor were the most as a DI program. 

GRANTED PERMISSION
The 32-point explosion was no aberration for freshman guard Adam Grant, who has played like a seasoned vet through his first 18 collegiate games. He has netted double-digit points in all but four games this season. Grant is second on the team with 15.0 points per game to sit ninth in the NEC, first among league rookies. The 32 points were the second-most by a Bryant rookie at the DI level. 

CRAZY ABOUT 80
With the 112-110 3OT loss to the Pioneers on Saturday, Bryant is now 1-3 this season when scoring 80 or more points. The Bulldogs have never lost more than one game in any season at the Division I level when scoring 80+ points and hold a 31-5 record at the DI ranks when doing so. 

MR. STEAL YOUR BALL 
The Bulldogs also set a new Division I record with 15 steals in the game against the Pioneers, nine off the program record. The team is averaging 6.6 steals per game this year and is on pace to break its previous high for a single season at the Division I level, which was 5.9.   

JUST ZOO IT
Sophomore Nisre Zouzoua is in the midst of superb sophomore campaign with an impressive 20.6 points per game to lead the league and sit 30th nationally, while hitting 2.67 triples per game. He has scored 21 points or more in 11 outings, including a career high of 31 points at Brown on Nov. 28, his second 30-point game of the year.  

BK ALL DAY
Junior forward Bosko Kostur has provided the Bulldogs with an additional threat over the last few games and reemerged as a consistent contributor. After scoring no more than four points and playing no more than eight minutes over the first six games of the year, he has played 20+ minutes in eight of the last 12 games, has started four-straight contests and scored in double-figures eight times. He is averaging 17.3 points on a .534 clip from the floor over the last four games. 

BLOCK PARTY
After missing six-consecutive games from Nov. 28 - Dec. 22, senior forward Dan Garvin returned against St. Francis Brooklyn on Dec. 29 and provided Bryant with leadership along with a presence at the rim. The Bulldogs tallied a total of five rejections in Garvin's absence, but have averaged three denials per contest since. Garvin has 13 of the team's 18 blocks during the six-game stretch. 

BRYANT HOOPS ON WOON RADIO
For the ninth season, all Bryant University basketball home games and select road contests can be heard LIVE on WOON 1240 AM. Veteran sportscaster Jon Wallach of 98.5 FM The Sports Hub Boston returns to call the action alongside color analyst Tristan Hobbes.

ON TAP
The Bulldogs venture to western Pennsylvania to take on Saint Francis U. Thursday at 7:00 p.m.