SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Tim O’Shea knows there’s a long way to go. But the Bryant mentor also has enough experience to know that a game like Thursday night’s 79-78 overtime win against Mount St. Mary’s could be a difference-maker for a team that may be having a magical season.
“These are the games that make your season – when you win the two-pointer at Boston College, the one-pointer at Lehigh, the one-point overtime game tonight,” said O’Shea. “That’s a powerful swing in your confidence and your momentum as a team.”
This game is big for a variety of reasons. The Bulldogs won despite not playing their best basketball for the second game in a row. They won after giving up the lead in regulation on a turnover in their own end trying to get the ball inbounds in the last 15 seconds. They also had an unusual and very unexpected hero, to go with someone who won’t be seen as a hero in the usual way but goes down as one to anyone who paid attention.
Bryant didn’t play their best basketball at Central Connecticut last Saturday, but came from behind to pull it out. On Thursday, they overcame 20 turnovers and allowing Mount St. Mary’s to shoot over 52 percent from the floor. They shot just 4-16 from long range as well.
“We’ve had a couple of games where we certainly haven’t played our best, but I think we have a lot of guys who don’t crack under pressure, and we’ve been really good at winning close games,” said freshman guard Shane McLaughlin. “I think that’s a sign of a team with good leadership.”
McLaughlin was the hero on the night. Although the Bulldogs have talked about how valuable he is for a while, that really showed up on Thursday night. Joe O’Shea, who had a fine outing, fouled out early in overtime, and that led to McLaughlin being called into more duty. He only scored one basket on the evening, but it was a big one as he drove in the lane and made a tough layup in traffic that proved to be the game-winner.
McLaughlin is unheralded on a team that features Dyami Starks, Frankie Dobbs and Corey Maynard on the perimeter, along with Alex Francis up front. His value is often in allowing the starters to rest and not lose much, but O’Shea can see him taking over next year and beyond in a role similar to Dobbs, who has taken McLaughlin under his wing.
“I give this guy a lot of credit,” O’Shea said of the freshman. “How many freshmen would have ever had the guts to make a play like that? I give him all the credit in the world, he sat on the bench a long time.”
That brings us to Dobbs, who one wouldn’t think of as a seminal figure in the game from just a glance at the stat sheet. He scored 10 points on 2-8 shooting and had eight assists. That won’t stand out, although his 45 minutes will. Watch the game, though, and you understand how important he was to this win, as he never sat, handled the ball often against a lot of pressure, and while he missed a deep three-pointer at the end of regulation, he hit a huge shot from deep in overtime just when it seemed like Mount St. Mary’s was going to keep the momentum going that they had at the end of regulation.
O’Shea said Dobbs will definitely get a rest going forward. But it was really another night at the office for a guy who’s seen a lot in his college career.
“Our leader, Frankie Dobbs, once again was tremendous,” said O’Shea. “He played 45 minutes against pressure the whole game.”
O’Shea noted that oftentimes, when a team makes a run late in regulation to force overtime, they maintain that momentum in the extra session. Mount St. Mary’s did at first, but Bryant had the plays that kept them right there and ultimately won the game. They did it when it looked like everything was working against them, especially momentum and a key player fouling out.
“These guys found a way,” said O’Shea. “It’s two games in a row where it didn’t seem like we were playing our best, things were kind of going against us. We were able to win at (Central Connecticut) under those conditions. Today, to pull this one out is really a sign that this team’s got some ability to play under pressure, it’s got some character. It’s a reason why we’re 12-4. We’ve got some tough, hard-nosed guys.”
Bryant is having its best Division I season yet. A lot has come together, including turning some of the close losses last year into wins now. When you have a magical season, those kinds of things happen, and they happen because of how the team plays. Bryant may be having just such a season if what we’ve seen thus far is any indication.
