December 1, 2008

Boxscore

ALBANY FINISHES SWEEP OF BULLDOGS WITH 57-47 WIN MONDAY NIGHT AT THE SEFCU CENTER

ALBANY, NY  - The Great Danes got 17 points from freshman guard Anthony Raffa to lift Albany to their fifth straight win, 57-47, over Bryant Monday night at the SEFCU Center.

Defense was the story of the first half, as a strong 2-3 zone by the Bulldogs held the Great Danes to just 33 percent shooting from the floor in the first half including 3-for-14 from beyond the three-point arc, but Bryant still trailed, 28-22, at the break.

On the other end, the Bulldogs continued to get good looks at the basket despite full court pressure from Albany, but could not get the shots to fall, going 8-for-27 from the floor and 1-for-11 from downtown. Bryant committed just four first half turnovers.

Leading scorer Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn. / MCI) played just five minutes in the first half, as foul trouble forced coach Tim O'Shea to put the junior on the bench with 12:15 to go in the half. Gresham was held to 0-for-3 shooting and zero points in the half for the first time this season.

Barry Latham (Taunton, Mass. / Marianapolis) carried the scoring burden for Bryant through the first 20 minutes, scoring 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting, including a thunderous dunk on a breakaway to pull the Bulldogs within two at 15-13 with just over seven minutes to play in the half. Latham finished with a team-high 16 points and was the only Bulldog in double-figures.

The Great Danes were able to find scoring from Brian Connelly, who recorded 12 points in the first frame including 10 straight over a four minute span from the nine minute mark until five minutes left in the half. Connelly finished with 13 for the game.

UAlbany held a big advantage on the boards, outrebounding the Bulldogs 26-15 including 9 on the offensive end.

Bryant trailed by just two after a pair of Latham free throws with 2:06 in the half when Louis Barraza and Anthony Raffa connected on a pair of threes, with a Jerrann Wright (Cincinnati, Ohio / Dater) lay-up sandwiched in-between to give the Great Danes a six point lead as the teams headed for their locker rooms. Wright would finish with seven points and a season-high nine rebounds.

Gresham got on the scoreboard just 30 seconds into the second half, but that would be just one of four field goals for the Bulldogs over the first 12 minutes of the frame. Gresham finished with a season-low six points and was held below double-figures for the first time this year.

The Great Danes used a 14-2 run over seven minutes in the second half to help put distance between themselves and Bryant as they extended the lead to 46-28 with 10 minutes to go. Tim Ambrose, who scored 23 in the first matchup between the two squads, had six during that run that concluded with a Barraza three. That would be the biggest lead of the night for UAlbany.

Bryant would respond with a short 5-0 run to close the deficit to 14 with 7:01 left.  The Bulldogs continued to play hard on the defensive end, getting a great effort off the bench from Anthony Thomas (Boston, Mass. / Cathedral).

The Bulldogs had a difficult time finding an offensive rhythm down the stretch, but were able to close the gap to ten thanks to a late Chris Birrell (Scituate, R.I. / Scituate), but would not get any closer as the final buzzer sounded.

Bryant finished the night shooting just 3-for-21 from behind the arc, but shot well from the free throw line with a season high 70.6 percent.

Next up for Bryant is a trip to Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes on Friday night (7:30 CT).