Talented freshmen help Bulldogs snap NEC losing skid

Green, Lin, Pride combine for 42 points in rout of Wagner at Chace

SMITHFIELD – So this is what winning in the Northeast Conference feels like.

Thursday night bore witness to the Bryant University men’s basketball team cancelling its long overdue appointment with the league’s win column. The return to sender memo was made possible after a decisive 79-58 victory over Wagner at the Chace Athletic Center.

“I knew eventually we were going to start to play well,” said head coach Jared Grasso following the merciful end of the Bulldogs’ four-game losing streak. “The second half, we kind of looked like ourselves ago.”

The sigh of relief was made possible thanks to some hot shooting – the polar opposite of last

Saturday’s frosty 7-of-35 display from three in a 14-point home loss to Long Island. After missing seven of their first eight 3-point bids on Thursday, the Bulldogs ended up hitting 11 of their final 22 shots from beyond the arc.

“We shared the ball and made some shots. You see the ball go in and you start feeling confident and defend a little bitter,” said Grasso. “Sometimes it’s about feeling good about yourself and seeing the ball go through the net.”

The four-game losing skid that’s now officially history saw Bryant fall by an average of five points per game.

Save for the LIU contest, the Bulldogs were right there yet found themselves unable to make winning plays with the outcome hanging in the balance.

For a change, Bryant (10-9, 2-4 NEC) sang a different tune. Adam Grant buried six threes en route to a game-best 21 points, yet the night belonged to three members of the freshman class. The Bulldogs’ ability to pull away from the Seahawks (5-13, 2-5 NEC) was largely due to first-year college players Charles Pride (16 points), Michael Green III (15 points), and Benson Lin (11 points).Each of them left a sizeable imprint, particularly during the second half when Grasso shortened his rotation.

“They’re good players who work hard every day,” said Grasso. “They spend a ton of time in the gym together. It’s hard to win with freshman playing a lot of minutes, but it’s the group we have.”

“The three of us, we’re really close and talk all the time,” said Green about the bond he’s been able to form with Pride and Lin. “We want to help Adam out when it comes to scoring.”

Grant proved to be a flamethrower at a point in the game when both sides were searching high and low for an offensive spark. With the Seahawks nursing a 19-17 lead, the senior from Virginia hit one three, then added two more makes in a row. Just like that, the Bulldogs had the lead (23-17) and would not relinquish it.

“I challenged Adam in the huddle [during the under-four minute timeout in the first half] and he came out and did what a good player is supposed to do,” said Grasso. “That’s what you expect from your senior leader and one of the best players in the league. He put us on his back and hit some big-time shots at a time when we were really struggling offensively.”

Added Pride, “He brought the energy at that point. The whole team fed off it and just kept going from there.”

It was a bit troubling to see Bryant pull into halftime with 13 turnovers next to its name, but Wagner hardly took advantage with just five points off the Bulldog miscues. Looking back, the Seahawks let slip away a golden opportunity to chip away at the home team’s confidence, which went from shaky to brimming with self-assurance by the time the final whistle sounded.

After Grant’s barrage, the spotlight shifted to Grasso’s first-year players. With St. Andrew’s head coach Mike Hart and his current crop of players looking on from the stands, Lin gave his former school a reason to cheer after converting a four-point play at 18:28 of the second half. When Pride and Lin scored on back-to-back possessions, the Bulldogs had stretched things out considerably at 47-32.

Lin along with Pride and Green combined for 16 straight points in the second half. Green started a new streak with two free throws and a three that sent the Bulldogs on their way at 65-46 with 8:12 remaining.

Bryant shot 49 percent for the game and was aided defensively by the return of Hall Elisias, who missed the previous two games due to injuries. In 16 minutes, Elisias recorded three blocks and pulled down six rebounds. For the game, Wagner shot just 34 percent.