Townes, Bulldogs earn win
Forward scores all 23 points in second half to sink Dartmouth
SMITHFIELD — You could say that Bryant men’s basketball head coach Jared Grasso was keeping an eye on the clock in more ways than one.
With time growing short against Friday’s opponent (Dartmouth) and a press conference to introduce the school’s new football head coach scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., going for the tie that would have opened the door for overtime wasn’t a consideration. Grasso wanted to swing for the fences. There was also no wavering about who should take the game’s biggest shot.
After enduring a first half that saw him forced to briefly leave with a knee injury and sit the final 11:37 after picking up his third foul, Sabastian Townes redeemed himself and then some. The junior forward capped off a banner second half with a 3-pointer that splashed in as he hit the deck with 17.6 seconds remaining. The clutch trey propelled the Bulldogs to a most satisfying 68-67 win that was witnessed by plenty of elementary school students that made the field trip to the Chace Athletic Center.
“Coach Grasso knows that I eventually expand my game after a couple of jumpers and drives to the rim,” said Townes. “When the play was drawn up in the huddle and I was told the shot was mind, that gave me a lot of confidence.”
Townes ended up with 23 points, all coming in the second half and on 9-of-15 shooting. Freshman Joe Kasperzyk played with an aggression that included several strong takes to the rim en route to 19 points. Junior Adam Grant (11 points) teamed with Townes as part of a 12-0 run that opened the second half and helped wipe away the 15-point advantage the Big Green enjoyed on three separate occasions during the first half.
“The effort we played with, we were going to take aan enormous step forward win or lose,” said Grasso. “Our guys needed that. If you practice hard during the nweek, you’re going to put yourself in a position where you have something to show nfor your efforts.”
While Townes’ clutch make on what was the only 3-pointer he attempted on the day was the talk afterwards, Grasso gave credit to a defensive mindset that was stressed during the eight days the Bulldogs had off for exams. For the first time dthis season, the Bulldogs (37) employed a man-to-man scheme that held a Darttmouth team that figures to be ta factor in the Ivy League to d41 percent shooting.
Offensively, the Bulldogs have made it a point to play rthrough Townes. Due to foul trouble, his midrange jumper and ability to make plays around the rim were removed from the first-half equation. Luckily, Kasperzyk began making plays as halftime approached. He scored eight of Bryant’s final 10 points of the half as the home team pulled into the break trailing by a manageable amount (33-26).
After Grant and Townes got Bryant off to an encouraging start to the second half, the Bulldogs were able to build a seven-point lead (4639) with 13:54 left. Some leakage on the defensive backboards and knock-down shooting from Dartmouth’s James Foye (23 points, 4-of6 from three) helped to create a down-to-the-wire finish that included five lead changes and four ties.
Dartmouth (8-5) appeared to be in business, up 65-58 with 3:26 left. A tough two in the paint by senior Taylor McHugh and a three by junior Juan Cardenes enabled the Bulldogs to jump right back into the fray.
The Big Green’s advantage stood at 67-65 with a minute left. After Cardenes swatted away a bid by Dartmouth’s Brendan Barry, the Bulldogs placed the ball in Townes and he delivered. Another block by Cardenes, his third of the game, protected the Bulldogs’ one-point lead with seven seconds left. The door remained open for Dartmouth after Townes missed two free throws with two seconds left, but Chris Knight’s half-court heave as time expired landed off the back rim.
The win enabled the Bulldogs to match last year’s win total.
“This was a really big win for us. Most of the games we’ve played haven’t gone our way. This is a real confidence booster,” said Kaspersyk.
Bryant has one more non-conference game (Dec. 29 at Iowa) before the script is flipped and NEC games are the order of the day. Grasso remains optimistic that starting point guard Ikenna Ndugba (shoulder) will be good to go for the first conference game that’s on the docket for Jan. 3 at home against St. Francis Brooklyn.