Bulldogs fall in NEC final
Pride, Bulldogs battle back, fall in NEC final
Bryant endures tough loss despite battling back
SMITHFIELD – The Bryant University men’s basketball team’s bid to win the Northeast Conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid ended in tough fashion Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs lost 73-68 to Mount St. Mary’s in the NEC Championship Game that took place on Bryant’s floor. Bryant trailed for the game’s final 31 minutes as the Mountaineers were the ones celebrating and dancing away on the Chace Athletic Center hardwood.
“They were prepared. They were physical. They were tough. Hat’s off to them,” said Bryant head coach Jared Grasso.
Charles Pride did his best to carry the Bulldogs (15-6) with a career-high 33 points that came on 12-of-22 shooting, 8-of12 from three. The only other Bryant player to crack double figures was Peter Kiss. He had 12 points and 12 rebounds but watched the final four minutes from the bench after fouling out.
Remove Pride from the equation and Bryant was 13-of-43 and 0-for-13 from three. Finding complementary scoring was a tall order as usual catalysts Michael Green (2-of-12, 0-of-7 from three) and Chris Childs (1of-7, 0-for-3 from three) proved unable to get on track.
Green returned to the Bulldog lineup after sitting out Saturday’s semifinal win due to COVID-19 concerns.
“I didn’t have an end-ofseason speech ready because I thought we were going to win this game,” said Grasso. “Our starting backcourt, I would rock with them any day of the week. They just really struggled.”
Mount St. Mary’s was fueled by Damian Chong Qui (21 points, five assists), Nana Opoku (18 points, seven rebounds), and Mezie Offurum (16 points). Opoku was the choice for tournament MVP. The fourth-seeded Mountaineers did it the hard way as they won two road playoff games against higher seeds. They topped No. 1 Wagner in the semis before taking out No. 2 Bryant in the finals.
It was the Mountaineers’ type of game. They slowed down the tempo, picked their spots offensively, and dominated the rebounding department (46-34). Mount St. Mary’s biggest lead peaked at 11 with 11:48 remaining, though Bryant didn’t go quietly into the March night.
The Bulldogs trimmed a nine-point deficit to one (54-53) with 6:37 left. Getting over the hump was a tall order never happened as the Mountaineers appeared to be in good shape at 67-58 with 2:17 remaining.
Pride went to work with a three before Mount St. Mary’s turned the ball over with 1:05 left. Pride dialed up another triple to make it a one-possession game (6764) before it became a freethrow contest. A layup by Pride cut the deficit to two before Opoku wrapped up the NEC Tournament title with two free throws with 15.5 seconds on the clock.
“He’s a warrior. I want that kid in a fox hole,” said Grasso when asked about Pride.
Other than Pride, no one else in a Bryant uniform was able to get into an offensive flow during a first half that saw the home team fall behind as many as eight points. Pride was responsible for 11 of the Bulldogs’ first 15 points and ended up as Bryant’s only player to reach double figures by the half.
Bryant finished the first half shooting 35.7 percent, including 4-of-13 from three. Those percentages would have looked even worse had Pride not popped for 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting (4-of-6 from downtown).
Mount St. Mary’s wasn’t all that sharp in the first half (14-for-35) but the visitors played a rough-and-tumble style that Bryant didn’t seem particularly excited about. The Mountaineers enjoyed a 34-29 lead heading into the second half on the strength of strong board work (26-15, 9-1 on the offensive glass), points in the paint (18-12), and second-chance points (11-2).
Defensively, the Bulldogs threw everything at the Mountaineers, who rode an 11-3 run to go up 49-38. Green’s first points finally came with 10:12, yet he never got on a roll.
As painful as the ending is, the Bulldogs are expected to return the vast majority of the current core for the 2021-22 season.
“We need to be a little tougher and a little more disciplined in certain situations … small steps this program has to take to become a championship program,” said Grasso.