Youth served for Bulldogs Thurs. night
SMITHFIELD – It was just one play in a sea of them, yet what unfolded with just over seven minutes remaining at the Chace Athletic Center Thursday night spoke volumes about how the future is now for the Bryant basketball program.
Bruising freshman Marcel Pettway had just cleaned up on the offensive glass to give the Bulldogs a muchneeded possession at a point in the contest when St. Francis (N.Y.) was up five. Pettway kicked the ball out to sophomore guard Hunter Ware, who found some daylight along the baseline located in front of his own team’s bench.
Ware let fly a floater where the riskreturn spectrum seemed to be pointing in the rim’s favor, not the player who was averaging the most points on the squad. With no backboard to work with, the shot’s degree of difficulty rose to the point where the Terriers were looking at a strong possibility to pad their 50-45 lead.
Ultimately, everything worked in Bryant’s favor. Ware’s confidence was met with the desired result he sought as the Bulldogs made it a one-possession game.
The Terriers did go on to build a sixpoint lead, yet the deficit didn’t seem as grave thanks to one particular sequence that featured some muscle from Pettway along with Ware’s faith in his ability to score from anywhere on the floor.
Without the Pettway-to-Ware connection, Shane McLaughlin doesn’t get the chance to play the role of hero and Bryant doesn’t end up defeating St. Francis in thrilling 61-59 fashion. If the Bulldogs are going to remain perched at or near the top of the Northeast Conference, there needs to be more games where the influence of Pettway and Ware are felt. The next chance for both to make their mark comes this afternoon when Bryant hosts LIU Brooklyn.
While it might be a little premature to anoint a first-year player and a sophomore as the be-all and end-all as far as the Bulldogs are concerned, Ware and Pettway have done little to make out- siders think otherwise.
Against St. Francis, Ware netted 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point territory, one of those makes from deep coming with time winding down in the first half. The Georgia native leads the Bulldogs in scoring (13.8 ppg) and is hitting 40 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
As for Pettway, the onetime North Providence High contributor continues to cement his candidacy for NEC Rookie of the Year. The 6-5, 250-pound bruiser collected his fourth double-double against the Terriers with 12 points and 12 rebounds. He’s clearly on the radar of the conference folks as it’s midJanuary and Pettway has already taken home NEC Rookie of the Week honors four times.
Certainly the Bulldogs aren’t lacking in offensive options. Four of the five starters who took the floor Thursday were averaging 10 or more points with the one player who wasn’t going on to deliver the game’s biggest basket. McLaughlin nailed a turnaround with 1.3 seconds left that snapped a 59-59 deadlock.
“I think one of our biggest advantages is that even though we’re young, Hunter and Marcel have a really good approach,” said McLaughlin. “They’re smart about the game and they want to learn. They’ve each got a good head on their shoulders.”
The early-season struggles that saw Bryant get destroyed more times than not during non-conference play has given way to a team that entering today is tied atop the NEC standings at 4-1. The turnaround has everyone singing a more happier tune, but McLaughlin knows that with Bryant in the midst of a four-game homestand that continues against a LIU Brooklyn outfit that’s 2-3 in the NEC, it’s important to cash in on the league matchups taking place on the Smithfield campus.
“The formula in the NEC is that you’ve got to win all your home games and get as many on the road as you can,” said McLaughlin. “That’s why we’ve got to stay focused and stay together.”