Bryant’s winning streak snapped
Bulldogs struggle from field in road loss to Saint Francis
It’s official. There is a Northeast Conference team that’s capable of bothering the Bryant University men’s basketball team.
From taking away the three-point shot to slowing the pace, Saint Francis (Pa.) unleashed a strong dose of kryptonite that allowed the Red Flash to grab their first conference win of the season at the expense of the NEC team that bused to Pennsylvania with the league’s best record.
Now, the Bulldogs will look to salvage a split of their two-game stay in Loretto after dropping an 89-82 decision at Degol Arena on Thursday night. The same two teams will be back in action Friday at 4 p.m.
If Bryant (9-3, 5-2 NEC) plans to depart St. Francis with at least one win, the Bulldogs will have to shoot the ball much better than they did on Thursday. Head coach Jared Grasso has become accustomed to watching his team score points in bunches, but that wasn’t the case on an evening when Bryant shot 41
percent from the field (26-of-63) and 25 percent from three (7-of-28) while committing 19 turnovers.
“We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well and their guys stepped up and made big shots. Credit to them. They came out and beat us,” said Grasso. “We’ve just got to get better. Hopefully, we will be better (Friday).”
Bryant sophomore Michael Green III put together some good numbers starting with a game-high 24 points and seven rebounds, yet he also had seven turnovers. Charles Pride turned in a strong performance with 20 points while Hall Elisias filled the stat sheet and then some with eight points, seven rebounds, five blocks, and three steals.
On the flip side, two of Bryant’s better shooters endured tough nights. Peter Kiss was 4-of-13 and missed all four of his threes, while Chris Childs made just two shots with both coming from beyond the arc.
“I thought we got good looks, but you’ve still got to find ways to win,” said Grasso. “We’re a good team. We’re not a championship team yet, but that’s okay. It’s still January. Things like this are going to happen. We’re going to have to deal with some adversity. It’s part of the season.”
St. Francis (2-6, 1-4 NEC) was anchored by terrific balance with Maxwell Land and Myles Thompson each netting 17 points while combining to shoot 7-of-12 from three. The Red Flash scored 23 points off Bryant turnovers, many of which were of the self-inflicted variety.
“They did a good job on our drives, but I thought we pounded we ball a little bit,” said Grasso.
The Red Flash jumped out to a 17-7 lead but saw it quickly fade away as the Bulldogs countered with a 10-0 surge. From there, it seemed that St. Francis had an answer for everything that Bryant threw its way.
The Red Flash built a 70-56 lead with 7:13 left, yet time was still on Bryant’s side even on a night when making shots proved to be a tall order. Instead of getting on track, the Bulldogs remained behind by double digits after Thompson buried a three that made it 73-63 with 4:26 left.
Thursday marked the first time this season that Bryant had dropped the first game of these two-game mini NEC series.
“You never get too high, you never get too low. The job is to get my team better,” said Grasso. “We’re a good team. Hopefully, we’re evolving into a very good team, but we still have a long way to go.”