Bryant back at the Chace Thursday night
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's basketball team returns to Smithfield for the first of four February home games when the Bulldogs host St. Francis Brooklyn Thursday night.
Bryant looks to get back on track in front of the Chace Athletic Center crowd after a three-game road swing against teams that would be top-four seeds if the regular season ended today.
The Particulars
Opponent: St. Francis Brooklyn
Location: Chace Athletic Center (Smithfield, R.I.)
Date and Time: Thursday, Feb. 6 – 7 p.m.
Tickets: Thursday | Halftime: Tyler's Amazing Balancing Act
Watch: NEC Front Row (Jon Wallach, Frankie Dobbs)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #12Seven4 | #NECMBB
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
St. Francis Brooklyn is 10-12 on the year and 4-6 in the NEC with an 8-2 mark at the Pope Center. The Terriers were defeated on Remsen Street for the second time this year with an 83-76 loss to Sacred Heart Saturday.
Four Terriers are scoring in double figures, led by 14.2 points per game from Chauncey Hawkins. Unique McLean has added 11.1 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds per game. St. Francis Brooklyn is averaging 77.0 points per game in home NEC games and 58.0 in road league contests.
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs and Terriers are meeting for the 20th time with the home team winning 16 of 19 previous matchups. Bryant is 7-1 in the last eight contests in Smithfield.
The teams split the season series a year ago, as Bryant opened league play with a 28-point performance from SaBastian Townes (Chesapeake, Va.) for a 76-66 victory at the Chace. Adam Grant (Franklin, Va.) scored 31 points - one shy of his career-high - in the February clash in Brooklyn Heights.
LAST TIME OUT: SAINT FRANCIS U 84, BRYANT 64
The Bulldogs were unable to find their rhythm from beyond the arc, being held to their second-lowest three-point total of the season (4) in a Saturday matinee in Loretto.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Grant passed Dyami Starks Jan. 30 for second on Bryant's Division I career scoring list. Grant now stands at 1,710 points 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 Charles Pride (Syracuse, N.Y.), Benson Lin (New Taipei City, Taiwan) and Michael Green III (Bronx, N.Y.) rank second, third and fourth on the team in scoring and have combined for 29 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 two of the last three awards.
PUT IT IN THE BOOK
Grant's spot in the starting lineup Saturday was the 109th of his career, passing Alex Francis for the most in Bryant's D1 era.
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 six 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.
BOARD GAMES
Sophomore Patrick Harding (Fairfield, Conn.) hauled in seven rebounds Saturday at Saint Francis U to pass Bosko Kostur for ninth on Bryant's Division I career rebounding list at 353.
Harding is averaging 8.9 rebounds per game in 2019-20 and ranks fourth in the NEC. He has collected 30.6% of potential defensive rebounds while on the floor this season, good for seventh 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 81st nationally at 17.9 points per game, has made 76 three-pointers on the year (good for seventh 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.
THREE D
Bryant has held its opponents to 30.2% from three this season - the best mark in the NEC and 55th nationally. The perimeter defense has helped the Bulldogs to a 46.3% effective field goal defense against D1 opponents, which leads the league and ranks 56th in the nation.
HALL IN, BALL OUT
Redshirt-junior Hall Elisias (Valley Stream, N.Y.) broke Bryant's Division I single-season blocks record Jan. 30 at Robert Morris, and now has 57 on the year. leads the NEC in blocks per game (2.9) and ranks 18th in rebounding (5.4). Elisias has recorded four of Bryant's top six single-game block totals in his first year as a Bulldog including a career-high eight vs. Navy.
Elisias has blocked 16.4% of opponents' two-point attempts while on the floor this season, which ranks second nationally. The 57 total blocks are fourth in D1 career history and 18th nationally.
UP NEXT: CENTRAL CONNECTICUT
Bryant will play its first of two games in eight days against Central Connecticut when the Blue Devils visit Smithfield Saturday. The 4 p.m. game can be seen on ESPN+. Tickets are available by clicking HERE.
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