MEN'S BASKETBALL GAMEDAYS

BRYANT AT QUINNIPIAC
Where: TD Bank Sports Center, Hamden
When: Today, 2 p.m.
Records: Bryant (17-8, 10-4 Northeast Conference); Quinnipiac (13-13, 9-5)
Radio: WQUN-1220 AM
Internet: www.QuinnipiacBobcats.com
Video: NEC Front Row
What to look for
Scouting Bryant: The surprising Bulldogs have hovered around first place in the NEC all season long. They are one of three teams with 10 wins in the conference. The Bulldogs are 4-2 over their last six games, but just 1-2 in their last three. Most recently, five different Bulldogs registered double-digits in points, while junior forward Alex Francis picked up his seventh double-double of the year to lead Bryant over CCSU 88-67 on Thursday night. The win completed the Bulldogs' first season sweep of the 2012-13 campaign and marked Bryant's 17th win of the season, tying the conference mark for the season turnaround in NEC history (15 games).
Scouting Quinnipiac: The Bobcats have won five straight and seven of their last nine to move into fourth place in the NEC standings. Their torrid stretch has left them just a 1 1/2 games out of first place. It is Senior Day and the Bobcats will honor Dave Johnson, Garvy Young and Jamee Jackson before the game. The class has amassed a 76-47 mark in their time with the club. Quinnipiac needs one more win to clinch a playoff spot but have clearly set their sites higher. It beat Sacred Heart on Thursday.

Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship
ALBERTUS MAGNUS AT ANNA MARIA COLLEGE
Where: Fuller Center, Paxton, Mass.
When: 2 p.m.
Records: Albertus Magnus (23-4, 15-3 GNAC); Anna Maria (20-7, 16-2)
What to look for
Scouting Albertus Magnus: The Falcons blew out Johnson & Wales on Thursday to earn their third berth in the title game in the past four years. They won both prior trips. Darius Watson had 27 points in the semifinal win while Arshad Jackson added 21. The Falcons average 85.4 points a game and have spent time in the nation's Top 25 during the season and have an outside shot an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III tournament with a loss but earns the automatic bid with a win. Watson is averaging 22 points and moved into fourth place in the AMC all-time list on Thursday.
Scouting Anna Maria: Senior Anthony Click knocked down six 3-pointers and scored 25 points as the AMCATS trimmed St. Joseph College 75-63 in the semifinals to move into their second straight title game. Click has 1,700 career points. The AMCATS stretched their winning streak to 17 games, tied with Amherst College for the longest current winning streak in NCAA Division III men's basketball. Last year, Albertus Magnus hammered Anna Maria in the title game at Hamden 88-54. But Anna Maria won the only matchup this season, 97-88, at Paxton, Mass.

(Records before Friday's games)
HARVARD AT YALE
Where: Lee Amphitheater
When: 8 p.m.
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: WYBC-AM 1340
Video: yalebulldogs.com
Records: Harvard (15-7, 7-1 Ivy League): Yale (10-15, 4-4)
What to look for
Scouting Harvard: The Crimson entered the weekend in first place in the Ivy League after cruising past Princeton in a showdown last week at Cambrdige, Mass. Harvard sports an impressive RPI ranking of 97 and is 31-6 over the past three seasons in league play. The Crimson played at Brown on Friday night and are led by Siyani Chambers, a front-runner for the top freshmen award, averaging 13 points and six assists. Slashing forward Wesley Saunders leads the team in scoring at 16 points and proved a difficult player to stop in the team's first matchup.
Scouting Yale: The Bulldogs, who played Dartmouth on Friday, dropped a 67-64 decision at the Lavieites Pavilion earlier in the season. Yale trimmed a big deficit to three points in the final seconds but were unable to get any closer. The Bulldogs have won three of their last four games but dropped three straight against rival Harvard. Senior Sam Martin has hit 9 of his last 13 3-point attempts and freshman Justin Sears is shooting 65 percent from the field in his last three games. Yale leads the Ivy League in rebounding and has outrebounded eight of its last nine foes.
- Bill Cloutier

Yale ran its winning streak to six games in men's lacrosse with an 11-10 win over Bryant in a non-conference game at Reeese Stadium.

Here's Matt Gibson on his game-winning goal:


Here are some game highlights:

By Bill Cloutier
Assistant Sports Editor
bcloutier@nhregister.com
NEW HAVEN – Yale center Greg Mangano hopes his game will one day take him to the NBA. He has the complete for a big man, possessing good hands, a gentle touch around the basket and even a flair for the dramatic.
With the score tied with less than seven minutes to play Mangano buried a wild 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock to spark a 7-0 run and the Bulldogs went on to their fifth straight victory, a 76-59 decision over Bryant in a non-league at the Lee Amphitheater Wednesday night.
“When Greg hit the 3-pointer it kind of got us going,” Yale coach James Jones said. “It was one of those prayers. He had three guys hanging on him and he just threw it at the rim. We had so many other good looks that didn’t go in so that kind of got us going.
“We were not mentally in it 100 percent until crunch time but we picked ourselves up then. I don’t know if it was because we played three games in five days.”
Mangano disagreed that his Jones that his shot was a divine intervention but both were in agreement that the senior from Orange could have played better despite his 21-point, nine-rebound outburst.
“Greg goes for 21-and-nine and I don’t think he played well at all,” Jones said. “That’s my expectation of this young man. He can be a great, great player for us.”
Mangano also had two blocked shots moving him closer to Chris Dudley for the school’s all-time record in that department. He needs just three to break the record.
“It’s an honor to be compared with Chris,” Mangano said. “He had a great career here and a great career in the NBA. Protecting the basket is a big part of our defense and that falls on my shoulders. Blocking shots and rebounding is big. I try to keep the ball inbounds when I block it, too.”
With five straight wins Yale is off to a 7-2 start, the best Jones’ 14-year tenure with the team.
“I’m not going to say this is the best team I’ve had,” he said. “I had a team that won a championship. This team has not won one yet. I like this team and we can be very good. We’re a talented team but we still have a ways to go.”
Both Mangano and Jones and feel this team is loaded with ability bringing with it a confidence in a series of tight games all of which have gone the Bulldogs’ way.
“We have great team chemistry,” Mangano said. “We proved that against Vermont and the second half of the Sacred Heart game (both recent wins). On any given night anyone can have 20 points. When we move the ball and share the ball it’s pretty obvious.
“The past couple of games I was definitely confident in our guys and myself that we would pull it out.”
Wednesday’s game was a see-saw affair until Mangano’s basket gave Yale the lead for good. His short jumper a couple of minutes later gave the Bulldogs a 67-57 lead with 2:17 to play. Bryant never got closer than double-digits again.
Austin Morgan added 10 points and Yale also got great help from its bench which Jones knows will be crucial in the back-to-back nights of Ivy League play. The reserves scored 24 points led by freshman Brandon Sherrod who also had 10 points, and four rebounds. Fellow freshman Matt Townsend also looked good in 10 minutes of action and guard Javier Duren returned to play after missing a few weeks due to injury.
Bryant, a talented offensive team, fell apart down the stretch losing its seventh straight game. Corey Maynard had 15 points and Alex Francis and Claybin McMath finished with 10.
Follow Bill on Twitter @BillCloutier. To receive breaking news first, simply text the word nhsports to 22700. *Msg & Data Rates May Apply. Text HELP for help. Text STOP to cancel.

By Bill Cloutier

Assistant Sports Editor

bcloutier@nhregister.com

HAMDEN — It was too early to call Saturday’s game against Bryant a must-win for the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team. It wasn’t too early for the Bobcats to play that way.



Quinnipiac raced out to a 27-point lead in the first half and cruised to an 83-72 victory in a Northeast Conference game at the TD Bank Sports Center Saturday afternoon. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Bobcats who rebounded from a lifeless effort against Sacred Heart just two days ago.

"In light of how poorly we played offense on Thursday, for emotionally and confidence-wise it was really good for us," Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore said. "We put up 44 points really quickly. It was 44-19 us with five minutes to go in the first half.

"We had great body language and you could just see our spirits lift."

Saturday also saw the emergence of enigmatic forward Jamee Jackson for Quinnipiac (3-4, 1-1 NEC). Jackson scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds and appears ready to join James Johnson and Ike Azotam as a legitimate option on offense. The Bobcats have struggled to find consistency in that area.

"I’m thrilled with the performance of Jamee Jackson," Moore said. "Jamee’s really blossoming now as a junior. He’s had the best 10 practices in a row since he’s been at Quinnipiac. That’s what’s fun about college basketball ... You expect growth and development and that’s what we’re starting to see with him and it’s really exciting."

Said Jackson: "It was a tough loss on Thursday. We expected to win the game but knew we couldn’t dwell on the loss. We were excited to get back into practice and it carried over into the game.

"Against Fairfield and American I had good games. Then I got into foul trouble but I kept being aggressive and kept playing hard on defense and I knew it would come if I kept playing hard."

Bryant was led by Alex Francis and Corey Maynard, who both scored 18 points. Francis scored 20 points against Notre Dame earlier in the season and helped the Bulldogs stun Quinnipiac last year when they erased a 25-point lead to beat the Bobcats at Hamden. But Jackson also did a solid job slowing down the Bulldogs’ exciting swingman and Bryant performed no such miracles this time.

Overall, Quinnipiac played its best offensive game of the season. It shot 55 percent from the field in the first half including a 5-for-9 performance from 3-point range.

The Bulldogs make things a bit interesting when they ended the first half on a 16-3 run hitting four straight 3-pointers in the surge. Quinnipiac held a 47-33 lead at the break and outrebounded the Bulldogs 24-9 in the first half.

Bryant refused to quit and cut the deficit to 54-43 midway through the second half when the Bobcats imposed their will. Following a missed jumper by Dave Johnson, Azotam raced from the baseline to the top of the key to steal a rebound and fired a pass to James Johnson on the wing who buried a 3-pointer.

Bryant never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way and that came in the final minute.

Follow Bill on Twitter @BillCloutier. To receive breaking news first, simply text the word nhsports to 22700. *Msg & Data Rates May Apply. Text HELP for help. Text STOP to cancel.