Bryant hosts Wagner Thursday on CBS Sports Network
SMITHFIELD, R.I. - The Bryant University men's basketball team hosts Wagner Thursday night in the Bulldogs' penultimate home game of the 2018-19 regular season. The contest between the Bulldogs and Seahawks will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.
The Particulars
Opponent: Wagner
Location: Chace Athletic Center – Smithfield, R.I.
Date and Time: Thursday, Feb. 21 – 7 p.m.
Tickets: Thursday
Watch: CBS Sports Network (Dave Popkin, Joe DeSantis, Paul Dottino)
Listen: WOON AM 1240 & 99.3 FM (Jon Wallach, Chris Burns)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #12Seven4 | #NECMBB
SCOUTING THE SEAHAWKS
Wagner enters Thursday at 13-12 and in a five-way tie for second in the NEC at 8-6. The Seahawks have won their last three games over LIU Brooklyn, Central Connecticut and Mount St. Mary's by a combined 11 points.
Romone Saunders ranks fourth in the NEC in points per game (17.0), fourth in rebounding (7.2), eighth in assists (3.8) and seventh in steals (1.4). Wagner leads the league in scoring defense (66.7), field goal percentage defense (41.6) and rebounding margin (+4.8).
THE SERIES
Bryant is 6-11 all-time against Wagner and 3-5 in Smithfield. Three of the last four meetings have been decided by single digits.
The Bulldogs are looking for their first regular season sweep of the Seahawks since 2014-15 thanks to a 71-64 victory on Staten Island Jan. 31. Junior SaBastian Townes (Chesapeake, Va.) scored a game-high 23 points in the first meeting of the year.
LAST TIME OUT: FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 97, BRYANT 84
Bryant trimmed a 17-point deficit to one with 7:17 to play, but Fairleigh Dickinson stymied the Bulldog comeback bid in the closing minutes Saturday in Hackensack. Juniors Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) and SaBastian Townes combined for 50 points in the defeat.
FROM HAMPTON ROADS TO RHODE ISLAND
Junior duo SaBastian Townes and Adam Grant have led the Bulldog offense this year with Townes ranks seventh in the NEC with a team-high 15.6 points per game while Grant has added 15.4, good for ninth in the conference. Townes and Grant, who have played organized basketball together since they were 11 years old, have combined for 15 20-point and two 30-point games this season and 109 points over their last two games.
THAT'S GONNA BE A NO FROM THIS DAWG
Junior Juan Cardenas (Medellin, Colombia) leads Bryant with 39 blocks on the year, good for third in the NEC. Cardenas ranks fifth in Bryant's Division I era in career blocks through just 23 games played. Cardenas passed Ben Altit for fifth on the Division I list vs. Sacred Heart.
SHOTS FALL, RECORDS FALL
Bryant shot 69.2 percent from the field in last Thursday's game against Sacred Heart. The mark is an all-time program record, surpassing a 67.2 percent mark against Suffolk on Jan. 25, 1974.
The percentage is the third-highest nationally this season against a Division I opponent and the best by an NEC team against a D1 foe in 21 years, when FDU shot 70.5 percent against Robert Morris Feb. 26, 1998.
UP NEXT: MOUNT ST. MARY'S
Bryant closes out its regular season home schedule Saturday when the Bulldogs host Mount St. Mary's on Senior Day. The 4 p.m. tip can be seen on NEC Front Row.
Tickets for home games at the Chace Athletic Center are available by clicking HERE or calling (401) 319-TIXX.
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