Bryant, Saint Francis meet Saturday on CBS Sports Network
LORETTO, Pa. – The Bryant University men's basketball team begins the month of February with a Saturday matinee in Loretto against Saint Francis U on CBS Sports Network.
The Bulldogs will aim for their second regular-season sweep of the Red Flash in program history and first since the 2012-13 campaign. All four meetings between the teams under head coach Jared Grasso have been decided by single digits.
The Particulars
Opponent: Saint Francis U
Location: DeGol Arena (Loretto, Pa.)
Date and Time: Saturday, Feb. 1 – Noon
Watch: CBS Sports Network (Paul Dottino, Joe DeSantis, John Schmeelk)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #12Seven4 | #NECMBB
SCOUTING THE RED FLASH
Saint Francis U is 13-8 on the year and 6-4 in the NEC after a frantic comeback win over Central Connecticut Thursday in Loretto. The Red Flash trailed the Blue Devils by 20 at the half before storming back for an 84-77 victory.
The duo of Isaiah Blackmon (18.3 ppg) and Keith Braxton (16.4) both rank in the top five in the NEC in scoring. Braxton ranks 10th in the league in rebounding (7.2). Blackmon's 48 made three-pointers are fourth in the conference.
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs and Red Flash are meeting for the 23rd time overall and fifth in the last two seasons. The home team has won each of the last five meetings after Bryant's 67-63 win Jan. 2 to open NEC play. Senior Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) scored 20 points in the January meeting, while redshirt-junior Ikenna Ndugba (Boston, Mass.) added 11 points and nine rebounds.
The 67-63 margin mirrored the final score of the teams' meeting in the 2019 NEC quarterfinal in Loretto, in which the Red Flash withstood a second-half comeback bid from the Bulldogs after leading by 18 at the half.
LAST TIME OUT: ROBERT MORRIS 64, BRYANT 54
Robert Morris held Bryant to 17 first-half points and weathered a comeback bid that saw the Bulldogs close the gap to three points in the closing minutes before icing the game at the free-throw line Thursday in Moon Township. Freshman Michael Green III (Bronx, N.Y.) scored a team-high 12 points, while redshirt-junior Hall Elisias (Valley Stream, N.Y.) and sophomore Patrick Harding (Fairfield, Conn.) each tallied double-digit rebounds.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Grant passed Dyami Starks Thursday for second on Bryant's Division I career scoring list. Grant's 11 points got him to an even 1,700 for his career, besting Starks' 1,691 in his three seasons in Black & Gold (2012-15).
SO FRESH(MEN), SO CLEAN
Bryant's rookie trio of Green, 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 28 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.
HALL IN, BALL OUT
Elisias broke Bryant's Division I single-season blocks record Thursday at Robert Morris, swatting four shots to get to 55 for his first year in Black & Gold. leads the NEC in blocks per game (3.1) and ranks 16th in rebounding (5.6). Elisias has recorded four of Bryant's top six single-game block totals in his first year as a Bulldog with eight vs. Navy and six against Rutgers, Columbia and Dartmouth.
Elisias has blocked 15.9% of opponents' two-point attempts while on the floor this season, which ranks second nationally. The 55 total blocks are fourth in D1 career history and 17th nationally.
AG RULING FROM BEYOND THE ARC
Grant was named to the Lou Henson Award Midseason Watch List Jan. 9. Grant ranks third in the NEC and 71st nationally at 18.2 points per game, has made 74 three-pointers on the year (good for sixth 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.
JUAN HEATING UP
After a start to the season slowed by injury, senior Juan Cardenas (Apartado, Colombia) has scored 15 or more points three times in his last five games. Cardenas tallied a career-high 26 points Jan. 15 at Merrimack and added 15 points vs. Long Island and 20 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 58.
DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANT-ED
Grant has started 108 games in his time in Black & Gold, which is tied for the most in Bryant's Division I era. Grant's appearance in the starting five Saturday would break Alex Francis' program record.
THREE D
Bryant has held its opponents to 30.2% from three this season - the best mark in the NEC and 57th 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 49th in the nation.
UP NEXT: ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN
After Saturday, Bryant will play its next five games in Rhode Island or Connecticut, beginning with a Thursday home contest against St. Francis Brooklyn at 7 p.m. Tickets are available by clicking HERE.
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