Bears Stun Friars 77-67 at Dunkin Donuts Center
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Bears Stun Friars 77-67 at Dunkin Donuts Center
Mike Martin and his Brown Bears have now beaten Ed Cooley and the Friars two out of the last three years both at home and on the road and they came awfully close last season to making it three out of three.
See the five takeaways slideshow below.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Friars got off to a great start in the game, taking an early 7-2 lead but the Bears counter with a 15-2 run to go up 17-9 in the game. From that point on, Brown had control of the game, leading for 28 minutes total while the Friars only led for five.
PC and Brown went into halftime at a 30-30 tie and in the second the Friars took a brief 36-34 lead with 16 minutes left but the Bears quickly took the lead back. A Cedric Kuakumensah jump shot with 11 minutes left in the game put Brown up 40-38. The Bears would never trail again in the game.
Leland King led the Bears with 16 points while Kuakumensah followed up with 15 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Steven Spieth added 15 points as well while grabbing six rebounds.
The Providence Friars were led by senior LaDontae Henton and sophomore Kris Dunn who each netted 16 points in the contest. Dunn also dished out eight assists but turned the ball over six times, accounting for half of PC's turnovers.
The Brown Bears visit Central Connecticut on December 22 while the Providence Friars get ready for their yearly showdown with the URI Rams on Wednesday, December 10.
Tip Off for URI vs. PC is set for 7 p.m.
For a further look at Brown's win over PC, see the five takeaways below.
Five Takeaways From Brown's 77-67 Win Over PC
Line up Change
Head coach Ed Cooley made a change to the Friars starting line up in this game, taking out Kyron Cartwright and inserting Jalen Lindsey.
Lindsey played 28 minutes and had six points (2 of 6 shooting) and three steals for the Friars. Lindsey's six points came on back to back three-point shots in the second half that everyone thought was going to be the spark that sent the Friars to a win. Not so much.
Cartwright played 15 minutes off the bench and netted nine points on four of eight shooting. Cartwright has yet to make a three-pointer in his college career.
Will be interesting to see what the lineup will be against the Rams.
Tavon Blackmon
Tavon Blackmon had one of his best games of the season so far. Against PC, Blackmon netted 11 points and dished out seven assists while pulling down four rebounds. He only turned the ball over twice in the game.
Blackmon went three of nine from the field but made all four of the free throw attempts that he had.
Cedric Kuakumensah
Cedric Kuakumensah fell one point short of leading the Bears in scoring but had a huge impact on this game nonetheless. Specifically, from beyond the arc.
The first three-pointer came in the first half, tying the game at 7 after PC jumped put to a 7-2 lead.
The next big three-pointer he hit came in the second half with 8:38 to go and coming out of a Brown time out. The Friars had just tied the game at 44 and had momentum but Kuakumensah's three silenced the crowd and gave the Bears the lead for good at 47-44.
Kuakumensah went two of three from beyond the arc. Impressive range for the big man.
Kris Dunn
Dunn has to cut down on his turnovers as they are really costing the Friars in these games. Against Brown, Dunn had six turnovers, the Friars as a team only had 12. Kris Dunn has 27 turnovers on the season, on pace to surpass his freshman year total of 47.
Dunn had a couple of really bad ones in the second half where he over dribbled and lost the ball. This happened at least twice in the half.
Both of those turnovers had Ed Cooley just looking up to the heavens.
Hard Work beats talent...
..When Talent Doesn't Work Hard
The most alarming thing in this game was the lackadaisical effort that the Friars seemed to show. They got off to a great start, going up 7-2, and then just had a huge let down. There were various events that everyone thought was going to spark them (ie.Lindsey three-pointers) but not so much.
On the other hand, the Bears came out with a lot of energy and played arguably their best game of the season which earned them, likely, their biggest win of the season, other then maybe a win over Harvard. The shot the ball really well and executed their game plan much better then the Friars.
For the Bears, hopefully this win will be the spark them the rest of the way.
The Friars have now lost three games in a row (one was to Kentucky, I understand) and displayed a lack of effort for the majority of this game.
It's one thing to lose, but a lack of effort is inexcusable. URI on Wednesday.
