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Bryant's return bolsters St. Ambrose backcourt

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By Eric Page | Thursday, January 3, 2008 11:54 PM CST | () comments

The struggling St. Ambrose men’s basketball team will get some much-needed backcourt help Saturday when it hosts Viterbo in a Midwest Collegiate Conference game.

Matt Bryant, a senior from Springfield, Ill., who has missed the first half of the season with an ankle injury, will be in the starting lineup.

The 6-foot-2 Bryant started 27 of the 30 games in which he played as a junior, averaging 7.5 points and two assists while ranking second on the team with 33 3-pointers made.

“He’s not 100 percent, but he is as good as he can be,” Bees coach Ray Shovlain said. “It brings a little bit more maturity and physical strength to the backcourt.”

Bryant will take over as St. Ambrose’s primary ball handler, an area in which the team has struggled with freshmen Lafayette Gray and Brett McGinnis rotating at the point.

Bryant also adds a shooting threat, something the Bees (6-10, 1-1 MCC) have sorely missed.

Ambrose shoots only 30 percent as a team from 3-point range. Take freshman shooting guard Reggie Shipp (24-for-66) out of the mix, and that number sinks to 27 percent.

Shovlain expects the return of Bryant to open things up for everyone else on the court.

“People have been packing it in and then every shot is difficult,” Shovlain said. “We need to be able to hit (from the outside) with some consistency. Maturity and consistency is what (Bryant) brings, and I’m hoping that will get us turned in the right direction now that we’re starting the conference season.”

The Bees have lost seven of nine games, including three in a row at the St. Xavier Tournament in Chicago.

Eric Page can be contacted at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.