PROVIDENCE -- Regardless of what happens the rest of the season, Cecil Gresham will have great memories of his chance to play against New England's Big Three this year.

The 6-foot-5 junior forward for Bryant University completed a personal hat trick of sorts last night by scoring a game high 24 points as his Bulldogs lost to Providence College, 91-64, at The Dunk.

Earlier, Gresham had scored 19 at Connecticut, and 19 more at Boston College. That's 62 points against the three most prominent programs in New England for a guy who chose Bryant's Division II program for one reason.

"I got one offer coming out of prep school (Maine Central), from Bryant, so I took it. An assistant coach with my team knew Max Good (then the Bryant coach) and told him about me. If it hadn't been for that, I might not be anywhere,'' Gresham said. Gresham said he played out of position, at center, at MCI.

"He's gone from averaging 13 points at a Division Two level last year to averaging 18 or 19 points against all top-level competition in Division One,'' said Bryant coach Tim O'Shea.

Gresham scored both inside and outside. His work included two 3-pointers.

pkenyon@projo.com