Bryant Nips Brown 70-67 For State Bragging Rights
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Brown had its three-game winning streak stopped by Bryant Wednesday afternoon, dropping a 70-67 decision to the Bulldogs, despite 18 points from Bears’ senior Sean McGonagill (Brookfield, IL). Brown, playing its fifth straight road game, falls to 4-2 with the loss, while Bryant improves to 4-2.
Brown battled back from a 12-point second half deficit and trailed, 69-66, with 13 seconds remaining. McGonagill connected on one of two free throws to cut Bryant’s lead to two points, 69-67.
Corey Maynard missed the front end of a one-and-one for Bryant and the Bears hustled down court to call timeout in front of their own bench with 4.9 seconds remaining. The Bears had a chance to tie the game, but junior forward Rafael Maia (Sao Paulo, Brazil) was unable to convert on a lob pass inside with one second left on the clock.
“We executed the last shot well,” said Brown head coach Mike Martin, “but rushed it more that we had to. We gave up too many points in the first 30-minutes (62) and held them to just eight points in the final 10 minutes. We have to be able to defend throughout the entire 40-minutes.”
McGonagill’s 18 points came on 6-of-17 shooting from the field, while handing out three assists. Maia scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Bears, while sophomore Cedric Kuakumensah (Worcester, MA) had 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
Bryant was led by senior Alex Francis, who scored all of his game-high 22 points in the paint. Joe O’Shea had 11 points, while Dan Garvin had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Both teams shot over 50-percent in the opening 10 minutes with the Bears holding a 26-20 lead on a trey by freshman Leland King (Inglewood, CA) and another by McGonagill with 9:46 left in the half. The Bears later extended their first half lead to eight points, 32-24, on a jump shot by freshman Steven Spieth (Dallas, TX) at the 6:46 mark.
The Bulldogs battled back to grab a 38-37 lead at the half after outscoring the Bears 13-5, taking the lead on a three-point play by O’Shea with 44-seconds remaining.
Bryant opened the second half with a 6-0 run to pull ahead, 46-37, with 18:00 remaining on a layup by Maynard. Two minutes later, the Bulldogs grabbed their biggest lead, 51-39, on a trey by Garvin at the 15:40 mark.
The Bears battled back to a one-point deficit, 62-61, on a McGonagill trey with 8:28 left in the game. After falling behind by as many as four points, Maia’s two free throws with 2:27 remaining cut Bryant’s lead to one points once again, 67-66.
Brown returns home after five straight road games for a matinee match-up against Central Connecticut on Saturday, November 30. Tip-off is 2:00 pm at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
NOTES:
-Both top scorers had an off night shooting Wednesday. For Bryant, Dyami Starks scored just 9 points on 4-18 FG while Brown's Sean McGonagill netted 18 on 6-17 FG. Bears' freshman Steven Spieth drew the assignment of guarding Starks and did an excellent job all night long.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST-Ivy League Rookie of the Week Leland King had 7 points and 4 rebounds for the Bears after averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds in his previous two contests.
-Brown's cause was hurt when center Rafael Maia was whistled for his second foul midway through the first half. He played just 23 minutes in the game.
-Bryant's Joe O'Shea had a solid night on both ends of the floor playing well defensively and getting to the rim on a few occasions off the dribble on the offensive end of the floor.
-The Bulldogs host Salve Regina Saturday at 1pm.
