Bluestein Leads Men’s Basketball Past Bridgewater State

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Basketball team welcomed Bridgewater State into the Amsler Campus Century Gymnasium this evening for a MASCAC matchup with the Bears. Jake Bluestein scored 21 of his career-high 25 points in the first half to lead a quartet of Trailblazers who finished the game with double-digit points.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Wednesday, January 15, 2025
• Score: Bridgewater 69, MCLA 75
• Records: Bridgewater State Bears 5-10 (MASCAC 0-3) | MCLA Trailblazers 3-12 (MASCAC 1-2)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Bridgewater came out of the gates hot, building a 10-4 lead with less than three minutes off the clock, forcing MCLA to call the game's first timeout to settle things down. The Trailblazers came out of the huddle and slowly cut the Bear's lead back to only two points after a three-pointer by junior guard Craig Williams (Dover, DE) as the clock ticked under 13 minutes remaining in the half, forcing the Bears to use their first timeout to break the momentum.
• With 12 and a half minutes remaining, Coach Derek Shell turned to junior guard Jake Bluestein (San Diego, CA), looking for a spark under the MCLA offense. And spark is what Bluestein did. Hitting his first three of the half with 11:41 to go and cutting the Bears lead to 19-18. Over the next 10 minutes, Bluestein drained six more threes to put MCLA up 42-38 with a bit over two minutes remaining in the half.
• Bridgewater closed out the half with a 7-2 run, sending the teams into the halftime locker room with the Bears up 45-44.
• While the first half belonged to Bluestein, the second half was senior guard JoJo Garcia's (Henderson, NV) time to shine. Garcia scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half. The Trailblazers opened the half with a 6-2 run that was capped by a layup by Garcia.
• MCLA slowly built their way to their largest lead of the night when Williams drove to the basket for a layup with just under eight and a half minutes to play, putting the hosts up 66-51. While Bridgewater cut the lead to as close as seven points multiple times, MCLA was never truly threatened the rest of the way.
• Bluestein finished with a game-high 25 points, while Garcia picked up a double-double with 19 points to go with a game-high 11 rebounds. Williams scored 18 points, and sophomore guard Hayden Morris-Gray added 10.
• A trio of Bears finished with double-digit point totals, led by 19 from TJ Williams and 14 by Sam Sweeney in 22 minutes off the bench. Louis Jennings just missed a double-double, finishing with 10 points and a team-high nine boards.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Field Goals / %: Bridgewater 28-78 / 35.9%, MCLA 27-68 / 39.7%
• 3 Points / %: Bridgewater 10-31 / 32.3%, MCLA 14-33 / 42.4%
• Free Throw / %: Bridgewater 3-3 / 100%, MCLA 9-14 / 64.3%
• Rebounds: Bridgewater 41, MCLA 53
• Points off Turnovers: Bridgewater 9, MCLA 14
• Second Chance Points: Bridgewater 8, MCLA 21
• Points in the Paint: Bridgewater 32, MCLA 24
• Bench Points: Bridgewater 21, MCLA 25

UP NEXT:

On Saturday, MCLA will be back in action when they travel to Salem State for a MASCAC matchup with the Vikings in the Twohig Gymnasium. The tip-off is scheduled for noon.

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