Grant, Ndugba help Bryant beat St Francis (Pa), 79-75 (Feb 18, 2017)
SMITHFIELD, R.I. (AP) Adam Grant hit two late free throws and finished with 18 points, Ikenna Ndugba score all of his nine points in the final 4:43 and Bryant rallied for a 79-75 win over Saint Francis (Pa) on Saturday for its third win in a row.
Nisre Zouzoua, the Northeast Conference's leading scorer at 20.0 points per game, was just 3-of-13 shooting but made all of his 3-point shots, hit two foul shots to cap the scoring and had 13 points. Dan Garvin scored a season-high 12 and Ndugba added nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Marcel Pettway's layup sparked an 8-1 run that gave Bryant (11-18, 8-8) a 70-68 lead with 3:44 to go. Ndugba scored five in the run, including a 3-point play during. After Keith Braxton's jumper tied about a minute later, Bosko Kostur hit a 3 and the Red Flash trailed the rest of the way. The Bulldogs hit 6 of 6 from the stripe in the last 18 seconds while Saint Francis missed six of its last eight shots and hit just 3 of 10 foul shots in the final seven minutes.
Braxton had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Josh Nebo had 13 points, on 6-of-9 shooting, to go with nine rebounds and three blocked shots for Saint Francis (12-15, 9-7).
Bryant is now one game back of the Red Flash, who is tied with Fairleigh Dickinson, for fifth in conference standings.