Bryant hosts Saint Francis U on New Year's Eve
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's basketball team closes out the first weekend of Northeast Conference play with a New Year's Eve contest against Saint Francis U at the Chace Athletic Center.
Tickets are available starting at just $5 through an online-only Holiday Ticket Special by clicking HERE.
THE PARTICULARS
Opponent: Saint Francis U
Game Time: Sunday, Dec. 31 – 3 p.m.
Tickets: BryantBulldogs.com
Watch Live: NEC Front Row (Jon Wallach, Cam Boon)
Listen Live: WOON 1240 AM (Jon Wallach, Cam Boon)
Live Stats: BryantBulldogs.com
Game Notes: Bryant
SCOUTING THE RED FLASH
Saint Francis U opened its NEC slate Friday with a 72-68 loss to Central Connecticut. The Red Flash played three ranked teams in non-conference play - Duke, Louisville and Saint Mary's.
Keith Braxton ranks fifth in the NEC at 17.2 points per game and second with 9.0 rebounds per game. Jamaal King is eighth in the conference at 14.3 points per game. The Red Flash have scored an NEC-leading 82.7 points per game this season.
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs and Red Flash have eight wins each since their first meeting in 2009. The teams met three times last year, splitting the regular-season series before SFU ended Bryant's season in the NEC quarterfinals in a 100-78 game in Loretto.
LAST TIME OUT: ROBERT MORRIS 68, BRYANT 54
The Bulldogs allowed a season-best 68 points, but a late Colonial run gave Robert Morris a 68-54 win over Bryant in Friday's NEC opener. Sophomore Sabastian Townes (Chesapeake, Va.) had a team-high 14 points for the Bulldogs.
BOSKO GETS BUCKETS
Senior Bosko Kostur (Melbourne, Australia) has been efficient from both two and three in addition to at the line this season. Kostur is shooting 50.0 percent from the floor, 46.8 percent from beyond the arc and 89.5 percent from the free-throw line.
WE LIKE IKE
Sophomore Ikenna Ndugba (Boston, Mass.) is averaging 14.3 points per game over his last 12 games with at least 10 points in 11 of 12. Ndugba has two double-doubles on the year: a 16-point, 10-rebound outing at Hartford (11/24) and a 17-point, 11-assist performance at Memphis (12/9). The 11 assists against the Tigers were the most by a Bryant player since Shane McLaughlin's 12-assist night at LIU Brooklyn (2/27/16).
Ndugba passed Alex Francis for fourth in Bryant's Division I era in assists in the game at Albany (12/6) and now has 196 in his career.
CARROLL-ING IN DECEMBER
Freshman Brandon Carroll (Brewster, N.Y.) has been an integral part of the Bulldog lineup in the month of December. Carroll has scored 10 or more points four times - including a career-high 16 at Dartmouth (12/22) - and is averaging 10.4 points per game during the month.
SOPHOMORES TAKING THE NEXT STEP
Bryant's sophomore class - Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.), Tanner Johnson (Lexington, Ky.), Ikenna Ndugba and Sabastian Townes - has accounted for 54.1 percent of the team's scoring in 2017-18. All four have elevated their points per game averages from a year ago, while Grant (14.3 ppg), Ndugba (12.7) and Townes (11.0) are the Bulldogs' top three scorers.
NEXT UP: MOUNT ST. MARY'S
Bryant returns to the road for the second weekend of the NEC schedule, beginning with a trip to Mount St. Mary's Thursday. The Bulldogs and Mountaineers will square off at 7 p.m.