Bryant battles Dartmouth Saturday on NESN
HANOVER, N.H. – The Bryant University men's basketball team aims for its second four-game winning streak of non-conference play when the Bulldogs travel to the Granite State for a Saturday meeting with Dartmouth.
Bryant, which enters the weekend at 7-4, has won its last three contests with victories over Navy, Columbia and Fordham. Bryant and Dartmouth's seven wins are tied for the second-most in New England along with Boston College, UConn and Vermont.
The game can be seen throughout New England on NESN and outside the region on ESPN+.
The Particulars
Opponent: Dartmouth
Location: Leede Arena (Hanover, N.H.)
Date and Time: Saturday, Dec. 21 – 12 p.m.
Watch: NESN | ESPN+ (Bob Lipman, Dave Faucher)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #12Seven4 | #NECMBB
SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth is 7-5 on the year after a 76-60 win over Central Connecticut Wednesday morning in Hanover. The Big Green are 2-0 against the NEC this year with the CCSU win and a neutral-court victory over Merrimack.
Chris Knight, James Foye and Aaryn Rai are all averaging between 10 and 13 points a game for a Dartmouth team shooting 45.5% for the season. The Big Green have benefitted from the worst opposing free-throw percentage in the nation (55.6%).
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs and Big Green are squaring off for the ninth-straight season with the all-series tied at four wins apiece. A go-ahead three-pointer from SaBastian Townes (Chesapeake, Va.) with 18 seconds remaining and block from Juan Cardenas (Apartado, Colombia) on the other end secured a 68-67 victory at the Chace on Dec. 21 of last season. Townes had a game-high 23 points in the win.
BRYANT VS. THE IVY LEAGUE
Bryant is 2-1 this season against the Ivy League with all three contests decided by two points or less. The Bulldogs fell 73-71 to Brown on opening night before defeating Cornell 82-81 on Nov. 10 and Columbia 67-65 on Dec. 6. Bryant is 3-4 against the Ivy League in Coach Grasso's two seasons after the program went 8-30 against the conference in its first 10 Division I seasons.
LAST TIME OUT: BRYANT 69, FORDHAM 61
Bryant held Fordham without a made field goal for a stretch of 14:59 in the second half to earn the Bulldogs' first victory over an Atlantic 10 opponent in program history Dec. 10 in the Bronx. Freshman Benson Lin (New Taipei City, Taiwan) led the Bulldogs with 15 points in the win.
A NOTE FROM DOWNTOWN
Bryant and Dartmouth both rank in the top 50 nationally in percentage of field goal attempts from three-point range. The Big Green have shot 45.0% of their field goals from distance, the 40th most nationally, whle Bryant's 44.9% rate ranks 41st.
BENSON HEATING UP
Lin has scored 15 or more points in two of his three December contests and is averaging 13.7 points and 35.0 minutes per game during the Bulldogs' current three-game winning streak.
DEFENSIVE-MINDED DAWGS
Bryant's defensive efficiency (101.6) leads the NEC and ranks 196th nationally in 2019-20 after placing last in the conference and in the bottom 10 nationally in each of the last two seasons.
The Bulldogs have held six of their first 11 opponents under 70 points, going 6-0 in those contests. Bryant is 16-2 during Coach Grasso's tenure when limiting teams to 69 points or less.
IKE TALLIES PAIR OF 300s AT FORDHAM
Redshirt-junior Ikenna Ndugba (Boston, Mass.) reached two career milestones in the Dec. 10 win at Fordham, recording his 300th career rebound and 300th career assist in the victory.
Ndugba is one of three players in Bryant's Division I era with 300 rebounds and 300 assists, joining Corey Maynard and Shane McLaughlin.
HALL MONITOR
Redshirt-junior Hall Elisias (Valley Stream, N.Y.) has tallied 17 blocks in three December games with eight vs. Navy, six against Columbia and three at Fordham. Joined by a six-block performance at Rutgers, Elisias has recorded three of Bryant's top five single-game block totals in his first 11 games as a Bulldog.
Elisias has blocked 17.7% of opponents' two-point attempts while on the floor this season, which ranks third in the nation.
The 31 total blocks for Elisias this year already rank seventh in a single season in Bryant's Division I era, and tied for ninth in Bryant's D1 career history, while his 2.82 blocks per game rank 14th nationally.
BOARD MAN GETS WINS
Sophomore Patrick Harding (Fairfield, Conn.) is averaging 11.2 rebounds per game over his first 11 games of 2019-20 and ranks ninth in the nation in rebounding average.
Harding has collected 33.4% of potential defensive rebounds while on the floor this season, good for third nationally.
NEW ENGLAND EVOLUTION
Bryant's seven wins in 2019-20 are tied for the second-highest total among New England's 22 Division I programs entering the weekend. Yale leads the way with nine victories on the year, while Bryant is tied with Dartmouth, Boston College, UConn and Vermont for second.
The Bulldogs' .636 winning percentage ranks third in the region behind Yale (.750) and UConn (.667).
UP NEXT: MARYLAND
Bryant wraps up non-conference play when the Bulldogs face No. 7 Maryland Sunday, Dec. 29, in College Park. The noon tip can be seen on Big Ten Network.
Bryant Men's Basketball 2019-20 season tickets are available by clicking HERE.
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