Bridgewater State Captures D'Angelo Tip-Off Classic Title

Championship Game Box Score | Consolation Game Box Score

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State College men's basketball team, behind tournament MVP Matt McLaughlin (Rochester, MA), knocked of visiting Clark University, 96-83, in overtime in the championship game of the 2008 BSC D'Angelo Tip-Off Classic.

This marks the Bears third BSC Tip-Off Tournament championship in three tries as BSC also won in 2004 and 2006.

McLaughlin scored 16 points and dished out a tournament record-tying ten assists in the win over the Cougars.  For the tournament, he averaged 11.0 points and 8.0 assists while also registering six steals. His 16 total assists in BSC's two games also tied a tournament record.

Bridgewater State (3-0) looked as though they were headed for the tournament championship game victory in regulation.  The Bears led 57-44 with 13:41 to play but saw that lead quickly evaporate as Clark went on a 19-7 run over the next six minutes to close the gap to 64-63.  The Cougars (2-2) would eventually tie the score at 67-all and took a 73-67 lead on back-to-back three-pointers by Mark Alexander (Providence, RI) and Brian Vayda Sturbridge, MA).

Now staring at a six point deficit with four minutes to play, the Bears pulled to within one (73-72) on a Corey Connor (Providence, RI) layup and a Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, MA) three-pointer.  After an Alexander bucket made it a three-point Clark advantage, BSC would score the next six points to take a 78-75 lead.  All-Tournament selection Peter Normandin (Westminster, MA) however converted on a three-point play with 43 seconds left on the clock to send the game into overtime.

In the extra session Bridgewater dominated play outscoring the Cougars by a margin of 18-5.  All-Tournament selection Roland Millien (Stoughton, MA) scored eight of his team-high 26 points in overtime, while McLaughlin added five and Motta chipped in with four.

Along with his 26 points, Millien also added nine rebounds, three assists and two steals while shooting 9-for-11 from the floor and 8-for-10 from the free throw line.  After scoring 18 points in the Bears' semifinal win over Lesley University, Motta poured in 20 points in the win over Clark as he connected on 7-of-13 field goals attempts while also pulling down nine rebounds and recording six steals.

Judah Jackson (Everett, MA) and Corey Connor also finished in double figures for the Bears.  Jackson posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Connor added 12 points off the bench.

Normandin scored 28 points on 12-of-18 shooting while also pulling down five rebounds and dishing out five assists. Alexander finished with 19 points to go along with seven assists and six rebounds, while Jack Minister (Manchester, England) added 14 points.

Both teams shot the ball very well throughout the game with Clark connecting on 57% (35-for-62) of its' field goal attempts including 17-of-24 shooting (71%) in the first half.  Bridgewater shot 50% from the floor and hit on 5-of-7 field goal attempts in the overtime period.  The big story of the game however was the Bears big advantage at the free throw.  BSC went to the charity stripe 32 times (24-for-32) compared to just six free throw attempts for the Cougars.

In the consolation game, Lesley University picked up their second win of the season with a 79-71 victory over Curry College.

Lesley (2-3) was led by all-tournament selection Jesus Trejo (Methuen, MA) who posted a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.  He also blocked five shots. Jonathan Cruz (Haverhill, MA) and Nijel Robinson (Plainsboro, NJ) each finished with 17 points for the Lynx.  Cruz was 7-for-11 from the floor, while Robinson finished 7-for-10 including 3-of-5 from three-point range. Matt Grassa (Everett, MA) had a strong all-around game for Lesley as he scored 11 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Quashed Simmons (Paterson, NJ) captured all-tournament honors for Curry.  Simmons scored a game-high 24 points and added five assists in the loss to Lesley.  He finished 9-for-15 from the floor including 4-of-7 from behind the arc. Mark Mastrullo (Billerica, MA) added 22 points to go along with five assists, while Daniel Singh (Lawrence, MA) chipped in with 16 points.