SMITHFIELD, R.I. – There are more indications all the time of how far Bryant has come since its Division I beginning as plenty of program” firsts” in the Division I era keep coming. That continued on Thursday night in the Bulldogs’ 103-95 win over Quinnipiac in their return home after three big road wins.
Let’s begin with the program firsts and records on the night. The team reached 100 points for the first time in its Division I history, set a Division I program record with their fifth straight win and a Division I record for wins in a season as it was their tenth win of the season. They also reached three wins in Northeast Conference play faster than any other season, although they were close two seasons ago when they did it in four games.
For another measure of progress, think about this: Bryant scored 80 or more points for the third time in four games on Thursday night. For a little perspective, in their first four years of Division I, Bryant scored 80 or more points exactly three times, none of those times coming last season.
The early Division I teams had some promise, but wins weren’t plentiful. Among the biggest deficiencies was a lack of scoring, in part the result of how different Division I is from Division II from a physical standpoint. If the Bulldogs were to win, they had to keep the score in the 50s, maybe the 60s. Winning a game in the 80s or 90s was a pipe dream.
“Last year, if you look at how many points we averaged, it took us two games usually to reach 100 points,” said head coach Tim O’Shea. “That was a big issue for us, we didn’t have scoring.”
There’s more to winning than offense, but that was the defining feature of Thursday night’s game, as you might gather from the final score. Quinnipiac shot 57.7 percent from the field and Bryant shot 60.7 percent, with the Bulldogs also going 12-19 from long range.
“We’ve got to guard better,” O’Shea said, going on to ask rhetorically, “How many nights are you going to shoot 63 percent from three?
While a lot of this has come from the injection of new talent in the last year, that wasn’t all on Thursday as even players who can remember the lean years got into the act. Vlad Kondratyev, who came in as part of O’Shea’s first recruiting class, had 13 points and six rebounds on Thursday night. Kondratyev had his moments early in his career when he had to play a prominent role, but he’s evolved into a solid piece inside for them. He’s not trying to be a wing like he once was, and while it may not be as much fun, one can figure he’ll take this season over the 1-29 and 2-28 seasons he’s been through.
“Now he shoots layups, which is what we want,” O’Shea said of Kondratyev.
Bryant isn’t a deep team, but they’re a lot deeper than last year when injuries made a bad situation worse. They were going deep into their reserves for most minutes of every game and asked so much of Frankie Dobbs, who surpassed 1,000 career points on Thursday with a game-high 24 points to go with six assists. Dobbs has had some good moments as well as putting up some good numbers, but he’s happy with another important number.
“It just puts everything in perspective,” said the senior guard of the losing seasons. “It makes you really appreciate all the winning we’re doing now.”
The crowd at the Chace Athletic Center wasn’t a packed house on Thursday night in large part because the students are still on break. That should change after next weekend’s home slate, as the students will be back for the remaining home games. The program has come a long way, and while they have had some good crowds up to this point, what lies ahead should only be better. A homecourt advantage might be the next indication of how far they have come.
