Bielefeld, Dinneen highlight for Salve Regina against Division I Bryant

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Led by career highs from sophomore Curtis Oakley (South Euclid, Ohio) and freshmen Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) and Bosko Kostur (Melbourne, Australia), the Bryant University men's basketball team spread the offensive wealth in a convincing 82-55 win over Ocean State opponent Salve Regina Saturday afternoon at the Chace Athletic Center.

The Bulldogs (5-2) saw 12 of their 13 healthy players take the court and shot 50 percent as a team to a 38.5 percent clip from the Seahawks (4-1), who suffered their first loss of the season. Oakley paced the game with 18 points in 15 minutes of action while Garvin tied his previous best with 13. Kostur also posted 13 in 26 minutes. Sophomore Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) earned his first start of the season and finished with five points and a career-best six assists.

Salve Regina was paced by 17 points from Jeff Bielefeld (Littleton, Mass.) and 15 more from Patrick Dinneen (Medfield, Mass.). Bielefeld recorded the game's only double-double, adding 11 rebounds to his team-leading offensive output.

The Bulldogs started out sluggish, getting outworked on the boards to keep the score even through the game's opening seven minutes. Salve Regina took an 11-10 lead off a Dinneen fastbreak layup at the 12:48 mark, but it was the last point the Seahawks would score for nearly the next six minutes, as the Black and Gold took off on an 18-point run to more than double up their visitors, 28-11, with 7:16 left to play in the first frame.

That margin would grow to 22 after four-straight points from rookie Bosko Kostur (Melbourne, Australia), and Bryant would take a half-high 37-14 advantage with 2:42 showing before the intermission after a fastbreak bucket from frosh Justin Brickman (San Antonio, Texas) (eight points).

The teams would match each other for the remainder of the frame, and a last-second layup from McLaughlin sent the hosts into the locker room with a 43-21 lead.

Bryant continued to build its lead after the break, upping the margin to 32 points, 68-36, at the 8:23 mark. The lead would hover around the 30-point mark for the remainder of the contest en route to the 82-55 final.

Both teams pulled in 36 rebounds on the afternoon, and Bryant would go 7-for-18 from long range to the Seahawks' 5-of-21 mark. The Bulldogs dished out 17 helpers as a team with four blocks, 11 steals and a 17-for-26 mark from the charity stripe.

Bryant will return to Division I action Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. for a Battle of the Bulldogs matchup against Yale University in New Haven, Conn.