Don’t Look Now, But Bryant Is 8-0 in Its Conference

Don’t Look Now, But Bryant Is 8-0 in Its Conference

While Providence College and URI men’s basketball programs get most of the press, and Brown tries to make some noise, all three of those teams have losing conference records this year.

You can drive up Route 146 however and see the Bryant University men’s basketball team zooming. The Bulldogs are 8-0 in the America East Conference and 14-9 overall.

The Bulldogs' out-of-conference losses included St. John’s, and in many of those games, Bryant was missing multiple key players. But now, the Bulldogs are healthy.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

The coach is Phil Martelli, Jr. — son of basketball royalty. His father, Phil Martelli, was an institution at St. Joseph’s, where he won 444 games and was Coach of the Year when his 2003-04 team went 30-2 and went to the Elite Eight.

At 70-years-old, the elder Martelli is still coaching. He is the associate head coach at the University of Michigan. Think Yoda.

His son, Bryant’s head coach, is just in his second year and got the job not through a coaching search, but when head coach Jared Grasso flamed out, Martelli, then the lead assistant coach, was elevated.

 

How Good Are the Bulldogs

Coach Martelli Jr. said,” I mean, we're pretty good. It's no fluke, we know. We've won every (conference) game but one by double figures. You know, we've been by far the most efficient offense." 

"Up until the last game or two, we were the most efficient defense. My thing is always if you're if you're one or two in both of those categories, you have a [conference] championship contesting team," he added.

 

Experience Leadership

While Martelli is only in his second year as a head coach, this year’s Bryant team is loaded with seniors, fifth-year, and even one six-year player.

“Again this year Rafael Pinzon, he is just a super gifted scorer.  If Earl Timberlake wasn't player of the year, I think Raf would probably be,” said Martelli.

Clearly, Martelli is already lobbying for Timberlake for conference player-of-the-year.

Pinzon is averaging 18.9 points per game. Timberlake adds 15.5 ppg, 8.8 rebounds a game, and has 33 blocks on the season.

“He'd be a close second or third, and the other guy would be Connor Withers, who started every game for last year,” he added. Withers is in his sixth year due to injuries and is a transfer from UMass-Lowell.

"You know, with those guys back, along with Kvonn Cramer, who was coming back from an ACL injury and would have been a starter for us last year...then there's the emergence of Keyshawn Mitchell, who's now a sophomore,” said Martelli. 

Clearly, Martelli loves this squad —  It is talented, deep, and experienced.

"It was a pretty good first in the last couple of games. And then, Davis and Josh Ozabor were the other returners. So those seven guys returning was huge. You know, certainly talented players, but just knowing what we do day in and day out and having a belief in that was huge," he added.

“I mean, for Earl, Connor, and Raph, you know, they're done. They're basically done with their eligibility this spring. So, you know, this is it for them. And then Kaylon, with his injuries, has been in school for six years. This group is highly motivated,” said Martelli.

Remember, Martelli — between watching his father’s games, playing four years at St. Joe’s, and serving as an assistant and now head coach — he has seen a lifetime of games at the age of 43.

"Our new guys, we're welcomed with open arms, Barry Evans from St. Bonaventure, Jakai Robinson from Miami, Kam Farris from Marist -- those guys that are playing right now," said Martelli.

He added that the best thing is he has players who say that playing at Bryant has brought back their love of the game.

When asked if this was one of those special teams, Martelli said, “Yeah. It certainly feels that way. I wonder, can we do what special teams do?”

Martelli said that last season’s 20-11 record set the stage. It was a good year.

 

He Is Looking for More Than 'Good Years'

"It was nice that people were coming by and saying, hey, 'good year.' It was a good year, and I felt that that was okay, but what I told them when this group first came together for the first time in the summer was that 'we're not chasing good years,'" said Martelli.

"We're chasing great years. They've got that drive. It's like we're trying to be great," he added.