Men's Basketball

WILLIAMS’ 26 LIFTS BRYANT AS BULLDOGS BEAT PACE, 78-72

PLEASANTVILLE, NY –  Bryant University senior John Williams (Springfield, MA/Longmeadow) dropped in 26 points and dished out six assists as the Bulldogs beat Pace University, 78-72, in a Northeast-10 Conference game in Pleasantville, NY.  Pace drops to 9-10 overall and 6-8 in the Northeast-10 Conference while Bryant goes to 12-6 overall and 7-6 in NE-10 play.

Pace trailed by eight points at halftime, 43-35, as Williams knocked down 5-of-6 from 3-point range and Jon Ezeokoli (South Orange, NJ/ St. Benedict’s) hit 4-of-5 trifectas as they totaled 17 and 13 points, respectively, in the first frame.  Pace led, 28-25, with 4:39 on the clock, before Chris Burns (Merrimack, NH/ Providence) hit on a 3-point attempt to tie the game at 28.  Williams then scored 11 straight points and Ezeokoli closed out the 1^st half with a three pointer of his own to cap a 18-7 run.

Williams would hit three more 3-pointers in the 2^nd half on his way to a 7-for-10 day from long range.  Desmond Quincy-Jones (Rye, NY/ Rye) and Gibraltar White (Gautier, MS/Gautier) would each total 16 points in the game, with Quincy-Jones scoring eight in the 2^nd half while White contributed seven.  Chaka Lightburn (Belize City, Belzie/St. John’s College) tallied 10 points and seven rebounds before leaving the game and Neal Wellington (Wheaton, MD) had nine points and six assists.

The closest Pace came in the second half was on layup by Wellington with 16 seconds to play. Burns would convert both ends of a 1-and-1 to give Bryant a 75-70 lead with 13 seconds remaining.  Wellington would turn the ball over, but Nathaniel Sudlow (Brooklyn, NY/ Tilden) was called for a technical foul after calling a timeout when his team had used all of them already.  After a pair of free throws by Michael Rossetti (Lake Ronkonkoma, NY/ Centereach), Jarren Wright (Cincinnati, OH/Dater) scored to give Bryant a five point lead.  Rossetti was called for a foul on the play and Wright drained the free throw to give Bryant the decisive, 78-72 win.

Pace returns to action when they travel to Springfield, MA on Thursday, January 26^th to take on the Yellow Jackets of American International College in a Northeast-10 Conference matchup scheduled for 7:30 p.m.