Men's Basketball places four in double figures, but fall to BSU 82-71 in MASCAC action

Bridgewater, MA- Bridgewater State's Rayshon Ward and Joseph Carty combined for 49 points as the Bears opened up MASCAC play with an 82-71 win over the Trailblazers in the Tinsley Center.  Ward scored 22 of his 25 points in the opening half while Carty completed his monster night by pulling down 15 rebounds.  The Bears improve to 8-6 overall and are 1-0 in the MASCAC.  MCLA drops their fourth straight as they're now 3-9 overall and are 0-2 in the conference.

Ward ended with 25 points on 9-19 shooting.  He went 4-7 from three point range and contributed three rebounds and assists.  Carty was 8-12 from the floor and 7-8 from the line for his 24 points.  Rocky DeAndrade was the only other Bear in double figures ending with 14 points.

The hosts never trailed as they led 9-7 early on before an 8-0 run extended the lead to double figures.  Ward's layup at the 13:18 mark gave Bridgewater a 27-16 lead, but MCLA would eventually cut it to just 32-30 after a Mike Demartinis bucket, but BSU once again responded behind Ward and Carty.  BSU would outscore MCLA 19-2 over the next five minutes to take charge and build a 51-32 lead.  They would lead at halftime 52-38.

In the second half, MCLA kept within striking distance and eventually pulled to within five points early in the second half after Noah Yearsley connected from three point range with 13:55 remaining, but the Bears answered on the next possession as Ward knocked down his lone points of the half to extend back to eight.  MCLA wouldn't get any closer than seven points the rest of the way as the final ten minutes were low scoring.

Adam Conquest led the Trailblazers with 20 points and pulled down 8 rebounds.  Mike Demartinis ended with 13 points, while Keiland Cross and Yearsley ended with 11 and 10 respectively. 

BSU shot 42% from the floor while MCLA connected on 39% of their attempts. 

The Trailblazers will be back in action on Saturday as they host Worcester State at 3pm.