Twice at home this season, the men's basketball team has been bullied by opposing teams. The University of Rhode Island and Wagner College, both more athletic squads, out-muscled Brown for rebounds and darted in passing lanes for steals as the Bears lost to both.
The positives from the losses? The Bears went to school. On Monday night, they proved they learned their lesson by beating another team respected for its quickness - Quinnipiac University - 86-79 in an overtime game in Connecticut.
Scott Friske '09 hit two free throws to tie the game at 74-74 with 1:14 left in regulation, and the Bears dominated in the extra period. Mark McAndrew '08 scored five of his team-high 21 points in overtime, and Damon Huffman '08 hit a 3-pointer to go along with his 18 points. DeMario Anderson scored a game-high 22 points for Quinnipiac, which fell to 2-4.
The Bears, now 4-3 overall, won with rebounding, though the Bobcats still had a 40-31 edge in the category. And though the Bears turned the ball over 14 times, they also forced 20. Head Coach Craig Robinson said playing URI and Wagner helped prepare the Bears to contain a quick team.
"We played those other teams already, so we had an idea of what we needed to do and of what we did wrong (previously)," Robinson said.
Until overtime, the game was a back-and-forth affair with 14 lead changes. In the first half, the Bears kept pace with the Bobcats with early 3-pointers, hitting six of their first seven attempts from beyond the arc. The Bears took a 31-25 lead with 4:35 to play in the half and went into the intermission with a 38-36 lead.
Brown came out re-energized at the start of the new half, going on a 13-3 run. But it quickly lost that edge as Quinnipiac went on a 22-6 run to take a 63-57 lead with less than nine minutes left.
"I actually think we got tired there," said Robinson, taking the blame for leaving players in too long. "When you're on the road, you try to go with your starters for as long as you can."
Brown came back to tie the game at 70-70 with 3:46 left. Then, with the Bobcats leading 74-72, Friske was fouled and hit those two free throws to tie the game.
The Bobcats had a chance to win, but Matt Mullery '10 blocked a layup attempt at the other end. After McAndrew missed a 3-pointer, Friske, who had a game-high nine rebounds, pulled down an offensive board to give the Bears one more chance at the last shot, but Huffman's baseline jumper with one second left was off-line.
The Bears never trailed in overtime, scoring six straight points on free throws and a Huffman 3-pointer. Mullery had another two blocks on defense. When the Bobcats fouled in desperation, McAndrew and Friske iced the game with three more free throws.
"We never felt like we were in a position where they were going to win" in overtime, said Huffman, a guard and tri-captain. "From the tip-off we got fouled, we got our free throws. We felt that we were really in control."
Robinson praised Friske for his play, especially late in the game.
"He played a terrific game," the coach said. "He's getting more comfortable with his role. He had nine rebounds in that game, and we needed every one of them.
The Bears will play the University of New Hampshire at the Pizzitola Center on Thursday evening, and then play Providence College at the Dunkin' Donuts Center on Sunday. The Providence game will end a stretch where Brown plays five games in 12 days.
Robinson is concerned about player fatigue, but the players downplayed the issue.
"We're all in pretty good shape and we're all playing a lot of minutes, but we'll be all right," said swingman Chris Skrelja '09.
