Bulldogs fall to UML in America East Semifinals

LOWELL, Mass. – The third-seeded Bryant University men's basketball team fell to second-seeded UMass Lowell in the semifinals of the 2024 Jersey Mike's America East Men's Basketball Playoffs on Tuesday night at the Costello Athletic Center.

Bryant's season comes to a close at 20-13. The Bulldogs finished with their second 20-win season in three years.

Rafael Pinzon led the Bulldogs with 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field. Sherif Gross-Bullock added 19 points, four rebounds and three assists and Daniel Rivera registered a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards. He added four assists, two steals and four blocks.

Game Information
No. 2 UMass Lowell 77, No. 3 Bryant 70
Records: Bryant 20-13 | UMass Lowell 22-9
Location: Costello Athletic Center (Lowell, Mass.)
Attendance: 800

Key Moments

• The River Hawks turned a four-point deficit into a seven-point lead with a 15-4 run midway through the second half.

How it Happened

• The electricity was in the building from the opening tip on Tuesday night.
• UMass Lowell got on the board first with a three-point play but the Bulldogs battled back to take an 8-7 lead at the under-16 media on a baseline drive by Gross-Bullock.
• Gross-Bullock kept it going early, hitting a trio of mid-range jumpers to give Bryant a 16-11 lead at the under-12 media.
• Pinzon hit a pull-up jumper to give Bryant a 20-14 lead at the 9:05 mark but the River Hawks responded with a 7-0 run to take a 21-20 lead at the 7:41 mark.
• UML would lead 25-22 with 6:24 left as Anthony Blunt was left unguarded to the rim.
• Bryant would regain a 28-27 lead as Rivera scored back-to-back buckets. He backed his man down and threw it home with a thunderous right hand before finishing at the rim.
• UML would answer again, scoring the next five points to take a 32-28 lead with 3:01 left. Blunt's three from the wing made it a four-point game.
• Trailing 34-30 with 2:25 left, Bryant would close the half on a 7-0 run to take a 37-34 lead to the break. Gross-Bullock started the run with a three. He performed his patented jab step to free up space and then swished his only three-point field goal in what was a 17-point first half.
• Rivera followed with a layup in traffic and then fed Latimer underneath for a two-handed slam to make it 37-34.
• Bryant led at the break despite shooting just 1-of-10 from three and committing six turnovers. The Bulldogs, however, shot 17-of-24 on two-point field goals in the first half.
• Bryant was able to push its lead to 44-39 in the first five minutes of the second half. Pinzon hit three freww throws and also knocked down a floater to get to double digits.
• The Bulldogs' lead would dwindle to one before Brelsford swished Bryant's second three of the night from the corner to make it 49-45 with 10:00 left.
• UML would answer, taking the lead, 51-49, on a Yuri Covington and-1 with 8:41 left in the game.
• Covington then swished a three as UML grabbed a 56-51 lead with 6:38 left in the game.
• Covington would add two free throws as UML built its largest lead of the night, 58-51.
• In total, Covingtons scored 10 of UML's 15 points during a 15-4 run that spanned 3:31 of gameplay.
• Hikim then grabbed a loose ball and hit a wide open three to make it 63-55.
• The teams would then trade big shots down the stretch but the Bulldogs missed two chances at the rim that kep the deficit at four. UML then converted twice on the other end to open up an eight-point lead, 73-65, with 41 seconds left.
• Pinzon would give Bryant life with his third three of the game with 31.8 seconds left. It made the score 73-68 in favor of UML.
• UML would close it out from there.

Stats

• Bryant finished the game 30-of-64 (46.9 percent) from the field, 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) from three and 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) from the line.
• UML held a 46-35 edge in rebounding.
• Pinzon finished with 24 on 9-of-18 shooting from the field. He was 3-of-7 from three.
• Gross-Bullock posted 19 points (9-of-19) and added four boards and three assists.
• Rivera posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He added four assists, two steals and four blocks.
• Keyshawn Mitchell posted four points, six rebounds and two blocks.

Game Notes

• UML won all three meetings with the Bulldogs this season.
• Bryant is now 2-2 all-time in conference semifinal games at the DI level.
• Gross-Bullock scored in double figures for the 25^th time this season and the 71^st time in his career.
• Pinzon recorded his third-straight 20-point game and his seventh of the season. He was in double figures for the 22^nd time this season and the 29^th time in his career.
• Pinzon scored 35 and 24 in two tournament games.
• Rivera posted his fifth-straight double-double. He finished the year with nine double-doubles. Tuesday was his 23^rd double-figure game of the season.