SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Tim O’Shea described it quite simply after his team scored their fourth straight win on Saturday. They didn’t just beat Army 70-59; they beat another opponent for the first time, and did so in a home gym that looked nothing like it had before in the program’s Division I history.
“It builds,” said the Bryant mentor. “We won today with a bunch of guys sick.”
A virus hit the team on Friday and shelved three players – freshmen Andrew Scocca and Curtis Oakley and senior Dan Calandrillo. It almost kept out a fourth, as starting guard Dyami Starks was a game-time decision. They were to go up against an Army team that goes 11 deep and counts on their depth. Army head coach Zach Spiker said their depth is one of their strengths, but it didn’t matter.
“They came in there today and took it to us,” Spiker said after the game.
Bryant definitely did that, using its defense in particular on a couple of occasions to break open the game. They first did so when both teams were stuck on a 5-4 score for a couple of minutes, getting run-outs to put some distance between themselves and Army. Later, they did it in the second half as they kept attacking and never Army get closer than nine after a three-pointer to open the second half got them within seven.
Bryant didn’t need much depth, although they got it in terms of contributions as Starks led four players in double figures on the day. Playing through the virus, he went 8-12 from the field for a game-high 20 points, leaving one to wonder if we all shouldn’t get struck by a virus.
“It’s a cliché, but I think God because I was praying all day for me to feel better for the game,” said Starks.
It helped that they have some depth in the backcourt, and one player highlighted on Saturday was Shane McLaughlin. The freshman guard played 13 minutes and didn’t exactly fill the stat sheet, but he was more than serviceable with three rebounds, an assist and a steal, and more than anything provided a little rest to starters Starks, Frankie Dobbs (19 points, six rebounds, four assists with just one turnover) and Corey Maynard (six boards, five assists, three steals). All three starters still played at least 34 minutes each, but that was better than having to go basically the whole way.
“Shane is big for us because he is one of our best on-ball defenders and he can run the point, he’s very solid,” said Starks.
Dobbs looked as good as he has in a while. A year ago, as injuries mounted, the Bulldogs had to ask him to do pretty much everything – shoot, score, pass, handle opposing presses, and perhaps even wipe the floor after someone went down on a play. Other than his scoring, his numbers were down last season from two years ago. He’s certainly benefiting from being on a deeper and more talented team, like all the other holdovers, but give him credit: he could just as easily not benefit from that.
Now that the team is winning, the Bulldogs face a new problem, but a pleasant one to have. They are 4-2, two games above .500 for the first time in the program’s young Division I history, and now have to handle a bit of prosperity. One way they’re keeping that up is remembering that they still have some teams ahead on their schedule that they have never defeated, as was the case with each of the four wins in the streak. (The first one, against New Hampshire, has an added note in that the teams had never met before this season.)
One other pleasant development came in the form of Saturday’s crowd, of the kind that hasn’t been seen since they moved to Division I. There was a lot of energy in the building once it got going in a crowd of just under 2,000, believed to be the second-best in their Division I history behind their opener against Albany back in 2008-09. Certainly, one had to think that beating Boston College last Sunday helped, and O’Shea said he sent a letter out to the students in hopes of getting a better presence at the games. It seems that helped on Saturday.
“It was a late-arriving crowd, but when they finally showed up, they really gave us a feel of what a college home crowd can be,” said O’Shea.
The biggest concern now is getting healthy for Wednesday evening’s game against Yale. The Bulldogs survived one game without three players, but probably can’t do that much more. It will be a home game, so it’s another chance to see if the fan base is now energized the way the crowd at Saturday’s game suggests, all going back to O’Shea’s comments of what winning does.
