Bryant rallies past FIU, 91-85, Saturday night in Miami

MIAMI – Earl Timberlake finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Antwan Walker scored a season-high 18 points as the Bryant University men’s basketball team erased a double-digit second-half deficit to earn a 91-85 victory over Florida International on Saturday night.

With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 4-1 on the year and picked up their first victory over a member of Conference USA.

Timberlake posted his second double-double of the year with 17 and 13, and added five assists and two blocks. Walker finished with 18 points and seven rebounds, hitting 8-of-12 from the field. Charles Pride (15) and Sherif Gross-Bullock (12 pts, 6 ast, 5 reb) also finished in double figures.

Bryant trailed for most of the game until Pride finished a transition layup on a pass from Kvonn Cramer, tying the game at 75-75 with 5:51 to go. It was a part of 9-0 run that Pride capped with a corner three to give the Bulldogs an 80-75 lead. FIU, however, retied the game but Gross-Bullock gave Bryant the lead for good with a corner three with 1:42 left. Cramer would add a put back slam and the Bulldogs finished 4-for-4 from the line to close it out.

Game Information
Bryant 91, Florida International 85
Records: Bryant 4-1 | FIU 2-2
Location: Ocean Bank Convocation Center (Miam, Fla.)
Attendance: 573

Key Moments

• Gross-Bullock inbounded the basketball, got it back and calmly sank a corner three to give Bryant an 85-82 lead with 1:42 left.

How it Happened

• The first half was a back-and-forth affair that saw 43 possessions. Pride got the scoring started, drilling a three from in front of the FIU bench.
• FIU made the first move, putting together a 9-2 run to take an 18-10 lead with 15:48 left.
• The Panthers took their largest lead of the half, 32-21, with 10:17 to go.
• Gross-Bullock hit a pull-up three and Walker finished a hook shot to answer the run and Bryant was able to pull within four, 35-31, after a three from Tay Mosher and a fast-break basket from Pride.
• The teams would then play nearly three and half minutes without a whistley. The up-and-down action ended with FIU up 10.
• Bryant was able to get the last points of the half as Pride canned a pair from the line.
• Pride opened the second half with a wide open three thanks to a great defensive play by Miles Latimer.
• Bryant would repeatedly get within two over the course of the half but FIU always had an answer. After a pair of free throws from Tyler Brelsford brought Bryant within two with 11:57 to play, the Panthers hit back-to-back threes to balloon the lead to eight.
• Brelsford cooled off the Panthers with a corner three of his own and Bryant was back in the game.
• Cramer brought Bryant within one, 69-68, with a putback slam at the 8:30 mark. He would score all eight of his points over the final 8:30.
• Walker answered a Panther three with one his own from the top to keep it at one but a three-point play pushed the lead back to four, 75-71, with 6:23 to go.
• Latimer would can two free throws, however, to start a 9-0 Bulldogs run. Pride finished at the rim to tie it, Cramer tipped home a lob from Doug Edert and Pride buried a corner three to make it 80-75 with 4:27 left.
• FIU, however, scored the next five points to tie the game before Cramer made it 82-80. After a FIU bucket, Gross-Bullock gave the Bulldogs the lead for good with a corner three in front of the Bryant bench.
• The Panthers then missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Cramer added an exclamation point to the night, finishing a missed layup with a ferocious two-handed slam.
• Gross-Bullock and Edert then calmly sank four free throws to close it out.

Stats

• Bryant finished the game 32-of-70 (45.7 percent) from the field, 11-of-28 (39.3 percent) from three and 16-of-18 (88.9 percent) from the line.
• The Bulldogs held a 42-36 lead in rebounding.
• Bryant turned 18 FIU turnovers into 21 points. The Bulldogs held a 21-8 lead in the category.
• The Black and Gold outscored FIU, 48-34, in the second half.
• The Bulldogs held FIU to 9-of-29 shooting in the second half.
• Walker led the Bulldogs with 18 points and added seven rebounds. He was 8-of-12 from the field.
• Timberlake posted a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. He added five assists and two blocks.
• Pride posted 15 points and grabbed six boards. He was 3-of-6 from three.
• Gross-Bullock finished with 12 points, six assists and five rebounds.
• Cramer posted eight points and five boards, while Latimer five points, two assists and two steals.

Game Notes

• Bryant and FIU were meeting for the first time in program history.
• The game was played with 83 possessions.
• Pride finished in double-figures for the 57^th time in his 87-game career.
• Pride now has 1,178 points, passing Frankie Dobbs (1,172) for fourth in DI program history.
• Pride’s six rebounds give him 608 for his career.
• Walker recorded a season-high in points for the second-straight game. He is 13-of-22 from the field the last two games.
• Timberlake recorded his second double-double of the season. His 13 rebounds are a new career high.
• Gross-Bullock has scored in double digits in all four games and is averaging 18.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg and 4.5 apg.
• Cramer scored all eight of his points over the final 8:30 of Saturday’s game. He is shooting 67 percent from the field.    

Up Next
The Bulldogs wrap up their Florida trip on Monday against Detroit Mercy in the final game of the Paradise Invitational. Tip is set for 12:00 p.m. at FAU Arena.