Bryant squares off with RMU Thursday in Pennsylvania

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – The Bryant University men's basketball team looks to end January with a victory when the Bulldogs make their first trip to the UPMC Events Center Thursday to face Robert Morris.

Bryant, which has had five of its seven NEC games decided by four points or less, takes on a Robert Morris squad that would be the conference's No. 1 seed if the tournament began today.

The Particulars
Opponent: Robert Morris
Location: UPMC Events Center (Moon Township, Pa.)
Date and Time: Thursday, Jan. 30 – 7 p.m.
Watch: NEC Front Row (Chris Shovlin, Jim Elias)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #12Seven4 | #NECMBB

SCOUTING THE COLONIALS
Robert Morris is 10-11 on the year and 6-2 in the NEC, one game back of league-leading Merrimack, which is reclassifying and ineligible for the NEC tournament this season. The Colonials split their trip to Brooklyn last weekend with a loss at St. Francis Brooklyn and a win at Long Island. 

Josh Williams leads the Colonials at 14.0 points per game, while A.J. Bramah is fourth in the NEC at 8.4 rebounds per game while shooting 58.6% from the field. The Colonials have held conference opponents to 62.8 points per game.

THE SERIES
The Bulldogs and Colonials are meeting for the 21st time with Robert Morris holding a 16-4 advantage. RMU has swept the season series in each of the last two years. 

LAST TIME OUT: MOUNT ST. MARY'S 79, BRYANT 76
Bryant opened the game by making 11 of its first 13 shots and seven of eight threes, but Mount St. Mary's kept the Bulldogs' three-point shooting in check in the second half, holding the Black & Gold to three made threes after the break Saturday. 

THIS MUST BE THE PLACE
The teams' meeting in Pennsylvania will take place in its fourth venue in as many years. Bryant and RMU played at the now-demolished Sewall Center in 2017, Duquesne's A.J. Palumbo Center in 2018 and the North Athletic Complex in 2019 before squaring off at the UPMC Events Center, the Colonials' new permanent home, Thursday. 

AG RULING FROM BEYOND THE ARC
Senior Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) was named to the Lou Henson Award Midseason Watch List Jan. 9. Grant ranks second in the NEC and 59th nationally at 18.6 points per game, has made 74 three-pointers on the year (good for fifth nationally), and has collected 20 or more points 12 times this season including games against Big Ten members Rutgers and Maryland. The Lou Henson Award is given to the nation's top mid-major player. 

Grant enters Thursday two points away from Dyami Starks for second on Bryant's D1 scoring list and three three-pointers shy of Starks' Division I career program record of 281.

SO FRESH(MEN), SO CLEAN
Bryant's rookie trio of Michael Green III (Bronx, N.Y.), Benson Lin (New Taipei City, Taiwan) and Charles Pride (Syracuse, N.Y.) rank second, third and fifth on the team in scoring and have combined for 26 games of 10+ points and six NEC Rookies of the Week, matching the highest total in program history. Lin (Jan. 20) and Pride (Jan. 27) have won the last two awards. 

JUAN HEATING UP
After a start to the season slowed by injury, senior Juan Cardenas (Apartado, Colombia) is averaging 15.8 points per game over the last two weeks. Cardenas scored a career-high 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting and 4-of-5 from three at Merrimack before tallying a team-high 15 points vs. Long Island and notching 20 points at Mount St. Mary's. 

Cardenas also passed Vlad Kondratyev and Alex Francis and now stands third on Bryant's D1 career blocks list with 57.

BENSON BUCKETS
Lin is averaging 11.8 points per game since the start of December while shooting 40.5% during those 12 games. The Bulldogs are 8-2 this season when Lin scores at least 10 points. 

THREE D
Bryant has held its opponents to 29.5% from three this season - the best mark in the NEC and 31st nationally. The perimeter defense has helped the Bulldogs to a 46.0% effective field goal defense against D1 opponents, which leads the league and ranks 52nd in the nation. 

UP NEXT: SAINT FRANCIS U
Bryant turns the calendar to February with a noon contest Saturday at Saint Francis U on CBS Sports Network. The Bulldogs aim for a regular season sweep of the Red Flash after a 67-63 victory at the Chace to open NEC play. 

Bryant Men's Basketball 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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