St. Francis Brooklyn's early effort bests Bryant in conference action

St. Francis Brooklyn defeated visiting Bryant 63-47 after using strong offensive and defensive efforts in the first half Monday in Daniel Lynch Gymnasium.

The Northeast Conference showdown saw the Terriers use a 23-4 run to snap an early 9-9 tie and lead the Bulldogs 34-20 at halftime. They poured in five 3-pointers in the half, scoring three from beyond the arc during their big run.

St. Francis Brooklyn, which has won five consecutive games, held Bryant to 7-28 shooting in the first half and 17-53 for the entire game.

Bryant wouldn’t settle, however, as it trimmed St. Francis Brooklyn’s lead to 44-34 midway through the second half and 54-45 in the closing minutes. But an Amdy Fall dunk and Jalen Cannon and-one near the rim restored the Terriers’ commanding lead with 4:15 remaining.

Tyreek Jewell led the Terriers with 15 points, Brent Jones added 13 points and six assists and Cannon had eight points and eight rebounds. As a team, the Terriers shot 23-50 from the floor.

Bryant’s Joe O’Shea grabbed 10 rebounds, while Hunter Ware scored 13 points off the bench. O’Shea, Dan Garvin and Shane McLaughlin each scored seven points.

The victory gave St. Francis Brooklyn (8-7, 2-0 NEC) its first winning record of the season. It also bumped its series record against Bryant to 7-3 all-time.

The Bulldogs fell to 4-7 overall and 1-1 in conference.

TIP-INS

On St. Francis Brooklyn’s first basket of the second half, Jones recorded the assist he needed to become only the second Terrier with both 500 points and 500 assists in school history (Gregg Nunn, 2001).

Jones is 32 assists away from becoming St. Francis Brooklyn’s all-time leader in that statistical category.

Bryant entered Monday’s game second in fewest turnovers in the nation. It committed nine turnovers against St. Francis Brooklyn.

UP NEXT

Bryant hosts league foe Saint Francis University at 7 p.m. Thursday.

St. Francis Brooklyn visits Fairleigh Dickinson the same night, kicking off a four-game stretch of consecutive road tilts.