Watch: Jamion Christian’s opening statement Bryant’s loss to Vermont
Watch as Jamion Christian gives his opening statement after Bryant men’s basketball falls to Vermont at home.
SMITHFIELD – Winning time separated Bryant men’s basketball from its powerhouse visitor.
Vermont flashed its mettle as a perennial contender in the America East when it needed it the most. Vermont’s TJ Hurley got lost at the key for consecutive 3-pointers that put Bryant’s second-half rally to rest.
The preseason All-Conference selection has played in plenty of tight contests, and Saturday afternoon wasn’t any different. Hurley finished with 26 points to hand Bryant a 62-52 loss at the Chace Athletic Center on Jan. 24.
Bryant (6-14, 2-4) now travels to Binghamton on Thursday, Jan. 29.
“Everyone on that Vermont team had to learn some of these things along the way, and now they’re executing at the highest level,” Bryant coach Jamion Christian said. “They know where they need to be at, and it’s no different than us. We’re just at the beginning of our journey.”
Bryant, trailing 30-17 at halftime, cut its deficit to five points on Timofei Rudovskii’s fadeaway jumper out of a timeout with 3:10 left in regulation. But then Vermont canned three consecutive 3-pointers. Gus Yalden (14 points) found space in the halfcourt off a ball screen for the first 3 of the sequence. Hurley then lifted Vermont on its next two possessions.
This is Bryant’s second consecutive loss after it surrendered 50 points in the second half to NJIT on Monday.
“I’m excited to see our team have the ability to battle back there after a really tough first half scoring the ball,” Christian said. “I’m excited to watch us grow offensively.
“I thought we found something there against a pretty solid defensive team in Vermont. I’m looking forward to us putting together two halves.”
Aaron Davis led Bryant with 15 points, and Rudovskii added 13 as the Bulldogs shot 31.9% from the floor. Bryant made only four 3-pointers for the contest and had just one make from beyond the arc in the first half. Keegan Harvey and Ty Tabales both finished with 10 points.
Bryant held Vermont to 34.8% shooting in the second half with four 3-pointers. The Bulldogs’ defensive effort tightened as Bryant used its size over the final 20 minutes to chip away at Vermont’s lead.
“We got a lot of mismatches that we can attack, and I thought we attacked those mismatches a little bit better,” Christian said. “We had that game plan in the first half, but we just didn’t do a great job of executing it. The guys were pretty excited to play today. Sometimes when that happens, you get a little bit off in your executing game.”
Bryant’s largest run was just an 8-3 edge that made it a 46-40 Vermont lead with 5:27 left. But if Bryant, which was still without Quincy Allen, can replicate its second-half steadiness on the offensive side, it should compete with the rest of the conference.
“We kind of just climbed our way back in there,” Christian said. “I thought that was a good sign from a team with our experience level and shows how we’re growing. That shows a consistency level, not just an explosion level, but that explosion is definitely there as well.”
