To link Peter Lambert’s hoops odyssey at Bryant University along the same wave length as a cautionary tale seems appropriate.
For what started out as Bulldogs head coach Max Good promising nothing except a roster spot has no question morphed into something pretty incredible for the Cumberland native.
The proof lies in Bryant’s recently concluded season, one that witnessed Lambert, listed at 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, emerge from practice fodder to a player Good grew to greatly depend upon. After barely seeing the floor his freshman and sophomore years, Lambert saw his minutes (16.6) and production (6.4 ppg) shoot up in the same fashion the January night he torched Merrimack for 29 points and a school-record nine 3-pointers.
The special night against the Warriors may have been Lambert’s coming out party in regards to Northeast-10 foes (“Once kids and coaches see someone hit nine threes, you’re going to stay close and not show him any room,” Lambert said.), but to his peers and coaches, the ex-Clipper standout’s arrival date was much sooner.
So why do we devote this space to a player who ranked sixth on his own team’s scoring list? Numbers hardly provide Lambert justice, nor do they even come close to measuring his worth to the Bryant program.
We’ll let Good, known for his fierce demeanor on the sidelines, take over.
“I’m a hard guy to play for; I tried to talk Peter out of playing, but the more I tried to discourage him, the more encouraged and determined he became,” Good said. “I’m glad he didn’t take my advice.
“To Peter’s credit, he wasn’t going to be deterred.”
As far as high school hoopsters in this state are concerned, Lambert falls into the category of “highly decorated.”  He departed Cumberland as the school’s all-time scorer, which remains in the family today with sister Kaitlyn now wearing the crown. The Lambert family has been regarded as a top-notch shooting clan, praise Peter Lambert strengthened thanks to the 175 threes he drained from his sophomore to senior years.
Yet when the time came to “move on,” Lambert felt in his heart of hearts he could do appreciably better than selecting from the laundry list of Division III schools that were knocking on his door.
This isn’t a knock on Babson, WPI or Roger Williams; it’s just that Lambert was aiming much higher because he believed he could play at a higher level than where he was prodominantly being recruited.
As fate would have it, Good entered the picture, though he hardly delivered encouraging news. Good had zero money to offer, and the road to earning playing time would by no means be easy, but he did guarantee a place on the team should he opt to enroll.

They say to think long and hard when it’s a first offer, but to Lambert, the decision was an easy one. Since his interests were geared toward business (Lambert’s major is accounting), he believed Bryant was a perfect fit scholastically.
And even though Good’s promise hardly seemed picture-perfect, to borrow from “The Godfather” Bryant University was an offer Lambert couldn’t refuse. 
“They had everything,” said Lambert.
The road to the status Lambert currently enjoys didn’t start out smoothly. He only saw action in eight games his freshman season. His season-high in minutes: five.
Lambert checked into 14 games the following year, scoring nine points – total.
What made him desire to go through such rigorous demands from a demanding coach? Lambert believed, despite everything pointing towards the contrary, that his time would eventually come, a mantra he kept repeating to himself daily.
“It’s a big leap to jump from high school straight to college, but you have to figure out what clicks,” said Lambert. “You have to push yourself (in practice) because you know you are helping. Even though you’re not on the floor, you still try to get better.”
“He never complained,” said Good.
Lambert had a few things working in his favor prior to the 2007-08 season tipping off. Chris Burns, Bryant’s top scorer from the prior season wasn’t returning, meaning a call would be going out for somebody to fill the void of the 15.8 points Burns averaged his senior year.
Lambert was also mounting a Cal Ripken-esque streak that was becoming just too great to ignore. He never skipped out on a single practice his first two collegiate seasons – which alone is a testament to his thirst to succeed – and today that perfect streak is still very much intact.
“I’m lucky to be that guy,” said Lambert about being worry-free concerning durability issues.
He got off to a torrid start, knocking down his first three trifectas at Saint Anselm Nov. 20, the beginning of an 18-point outburst.
There were the 11 points he came off the bench for against perennial conference power Bentley Dec. 4. All aforementioned performances merely offered a sneak peak of what resulted Jan. 2, the night on which Lambert got in a groove and never came out until the final horn.  
“To me it was the most surreal thing I’ve ever been a part of,” said Lambert.
 “He’s got tremendous arc on his shot and a quick release,” was the scouting report Good offered. “We won a couple of games this year because of his shooting.”
After making such strides, you’d think some sort of reward would be in store. It appears unlikely Lambert will be placed on scholarship next season, yet all speculation seems inconsequential.
“We’re going to be moving up to Division I next season,” said Lambert. “We get our workout sheets next week.”
What Lambert has demonstrated, beyond all else, is that you don’t always have to adhere to the coach’s words. If there’s a voice inside that tells you differently, listen.