Men's Basketball rally comes up short on Senior Day, end season with loss to Bears 78-75
North Adams, MA- The visiting Bridgewater State men's basketball team held off a charging MCLA this afternoon 78-75 in the regular season finale for both programs. The Bears improve to 12-12 overall and finish at 8-4 in the MASCAC. The Bears will be the third seed in next week's tournament and host Framingham State on Tuesday night.
The Trailblazers end their season at 6-19 and were 2-10 in conference play.
Bridgewater led 38-30 at halftime and never trailed, although they were under pressure much of the closing half. With just 1:46 left to play, the Bears held a 74-67 lead on Fawaz Mass' putback. MCLA wouldn't go quietly however as they were fighting for a playoff berth.
Trailblazer Khalil Paul, who had a game best 25 points, scored on a drive to the hoop to cut the lead to five. The defense then caused a turnover and MCLA senior Paul Maurice was fouled. He connected on both free throws with still 1:08 left, but the BSU lead was just 74-71. The Bears Michael Soares missed a pair of free throws, but Patrick McGuinness outdueled four Trailblazers for the rebound and when he passed to Soares, he was fouled again.
Soares would make one of two at the line making it a four point game with 54 ticks left. A Maurice layin for MCLA got them within two, however the hosts were forced to foul. BSU sent Joseph Carty to the line and he made one of two to make it 76-73 with still 37 seconds remaining.
Maurice would connect on a pair on the other end, however Carty would quickly answer making it 78-75 with just 18 seconds left. MCLA played for a final shot to tie the game, but the Bears played tough defense and Khalil Paul was forced to take a pair of difficult three point attempts to tie the game. The last of which was blocked by Mass preserving the win for the Bears.
Bridgewater was paced by Mass' team high 19 points on 7-10 shooting. He added 9 rebounds for the Bears. Greg Romanko had a solid game as well drilling three triples en route to a 15 point performance. Carty battled foul trouble all night long but ended with 11 points and 4 rebounds in just 16 minutes of action.
The Bears shot a solid 46% from the floor in the victory and protected the ball well committing just 9 turnovers, including only one in the first half. The Bears went 21-30 from the charity stripe in the win as the game featured 48 total fouls.
For MCLA, Paul went 7-18 shooting for his 25 points which included 20 in the second half. Maurice chipped in with 16 points and 2 steals. The duo were honored prior to tip off on senior day. Maurice ends his career with 965 points in a Trailblazer uniform.
Dakari Hannah Wornum ended with a double double effort of 10 points, a game best 16 rebounds, and a pair of blocks for MCLA. Anderson Dalmace came off the bench to score 10 first half points.
MCLA shot 39% from the floor and went 20-32 at the line.
