MEN'S HOOP BOWS TO BRYANT IN QUARTERFINALS
SMITHFIELD, R.I. (February 26, 2007) - Vernon Dupree
(Wilmington, Del.) led American International College with 18
points but the Yellow Jackets fell in a 41-27 halftime hole and
couldn't recover, falling to Bryant 79-63 in the Northeast-10 Men's
Basketball Tournament quarterfinals Monday night.
Fourth-seeded Bryant improves to 19-9 and advances to face 27-0 and
top-seeded Bentley Thursday. AIC sees its season come to a
close at 16-13 after entering the tournament as the No. 5 seed.
Dupree also finished with four rebounds and three assists. Aikeem Vanderhorst (Bay Shore, N.Y.) went 6-7 from the floor and totaled 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double, while Magen McNeil (Philadelphia, Pa.) also finished with 12 points. Jenar Harrison (Queens, N.Y.) added eight points.
Chris Burns drained five three-pointers and totaled 19 points to lead five Bulldogs in double figures.
The lead would see-saw back-and-forth in the game's opening moments before Bryant took the lead for good with a 9-0 run to make it 14-6 on a Jon Ezeokoli basket with 14:09 left in the first half. Bryant, which shot 55.2% in the first half and 6-15 from three-point land, saw its lead balloon to 14, 41-27 at halftime on a Jerrann Wright basket, then put the game away by scoring 11 of the first 15 points of the second half, with a Wright basket at the 15:39 mark making it 52-31. AIC would get no closer than 18 points until the game's waning moments.
For the game Bryant shot 51.7% and canned 10 of
its 28 three-point attempts. The Yellow Jackets, who
outrebounded Bryant 36-32, shot just 37.9% in the first half and
went just 11-21 at the free throw line.