Bulldogs held off by Mount, 79-76

EMMITSBURG, Md. – Senior Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) scored a game-high 26 points and senior Juan Cardenas (Apartado, Colombia) added 20, but a hot start from beyond the arc for the Bryant University men's basketball team cooled off in the second half as Mount St. Mary's defeated the Bulldogs, 79-76, Saturday at Knott Arena.

Bryant shot a season-high 53.8% from the field and 54.2% from three – the sixth-best mark in the program's Division I era – but made just three-pointers in the second half after draining 10 before the intermission.

GAME INFORMATION
Mount St. Mary's 79, Bryant 76
Records: Bryant (10-10, 2-5 NEC), Mount St. Mary's (9-11, 5-2 NEC)
Location: Knott Arena (Emmitsburg, Md.)

KEY MOMENTS

• Bryant went 7-for-8 from distance in the opening 12 minutes of the game to lead 30-22.
• Mount St. Mary's used a 13-0 run early in the second half and a 7-0 run late to wrestle the lead back for good. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Cardenas scored eight points in the first 3:17 of the game, putting Bryant in front 11-4 early.
• The Bulldogs made 11 of their first 13 shots and seven of their first eight three-pointers to take a 30-22 lead with 8:31 to go in the opening half.
• A 10-2 Mount St. Mary's run tied the game at 32 with 5:14 to go before the half.
• The teams were tied at 40 before a Cardenas three narrowly beat the halftime buzzer and sent Bryant to the locker room up 43-40. Bryant shot 59.3% from the field and 66.7% from three (10-for-15) in the first half.
• A 13-0 Mount run put the Mountaineers in front 53-46 with 14:53 remaining.
• Threes from freshman Benson Lin (New Taipei City, Taiwan) and Grant put Bryant back in front at 63-58 with 6:52 to play.
• Bryant led 68-66 before seven straight points from Mount gave the Mountaineers a 73-68 advantage with 3:10 to go.
• The Mountaineers would stay in front the rest of the game, with the Bulldogs cutting it to a one-point margin twice, including with 2.1 seconds to go on a three-pointer from freshman Michael Green III (Bronx, N.Y.), before Mount denied an attempt at a half-court heave at the buzzer.

STATS

• Grant was 9-for-15 from the field and 5-of-8 from three.
• Cardenas, who attempted a career-high 18 shots, added three rebounds and two blocks on the night. The senior scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half.
• Lin and freshman Charles Pride (Syracuse, N.Y.) added eight points each.
• Redshirt-junior Ikenna Ndugba (Boston, Mass.) grabbed nine rebounds and tallied five assists.
• Bryant outrebounded Mount, 30-28.
• The Bulldogs were 7-for-14 (50%) from the free-throw line, while the Mountaineers were 17-for-28 (60.7%).

GAME NOTES

• The Bulldogs made 13 three-pointers in a game for the fifth time this season. Prior to this season, Bryant acheived the feat 16 times in its first 11 Division I seasons.
• Bryant played its 10^th game this season decided by four points or less, going 4-6 in those contests.
• Grant moved within two points of Dyami Starks (1,691) for second on Bryant's Division I career scoring list and within three three-pointers of Starks' program-record 281.
• Cardenas added two blocks to move within six of second on the career list.
• Ndugba's nine rebounds moved him past Bosko Kostur for eighth in Bryant's D1 history.
• Grant tallied his 12^th game of 20 or more points this season and 35^th of his career.
• Bryant drops to 9-12 against Mount St. Mary's in the programs' Division I series and 9-14 all-time.
• Bryant has an overall winning percentage of .500 or better through 20 games for the first time since 2014-15.

UP NEXT
Bryant begins the two-game trip to Western Pennsylvania when the Bulldogs face Robert Morris Thursday at 7 p.m. 

Bryant Men's Basketball 2019-20 tickets are available by clicking HERE. The Bulldogs return home Thursday, Feb. 6, to host St. Francis Brooklyn at 7 p.m.

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