SMITHFIELD — Senior tailback Jerell Smith rushed for a career-best 239 yards and three touchdowns as Bryant University snapped its five-game losing skid with a 35-12 win over Saint Francis of Pennsylvania at rain-soaked Bulldog Stadium Saturday.

Bryant (4-6 overall, 3-4 NEC) scored on its first three possessions, two coming on a pair of long touchdown runs by Smith. The first was a 23-yard sprint on the sixth play of the Bulldogs’ opening drive. Following a fumble, Smith put the Bulldogs up, 14-0, just 3:26 into the game on a 20-yard dash.

Saint Francis (2-7, 1-5) answered quickly as freshman running back Kyle Harbridge scored on a 62-yard run, but the point-after failed.

From there, it was all Bryant. Freshman standout Jordan Brown did his part, giving the Bulldogs good field position with a 49-yard kick return to the Saint Francis 33-yard line. On fourth-and-2, quarterback Mike Croce connected with tight Matt Tracey for a 25-yard touchdown, making it 21-6 with still more than six minutes remaining in the first.

Smith was already over 100 yards rushing as the first quarter came to a close, and the senior wasn’t through. Midway through the second, Smith broke through the defense and outraced the Red Flash secondary for a 77-yard touchdown run, his third of the game, to put the Bulldogs up 35-12.

With the rain making the conditions on the field difficult, neither team could find the end zone in the second half as both teams combined for a total of 12 fumbles in the game — mostly on quarterback snaps.

Smith’s previous career-best was a 221-yard performance against Southern Connecticut last year. His 239 Saturday is the fifth-best single-game rushing performance in school history and gives him 2,975 career rushing yards in three seasons. Former standout Lorenzo Perry holds the school record of 313 in a game, in 2005.