Men's Basketball Edges Framingham State, 66-62

Box Score

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State College men's basketball team improved to 2-0 in Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play as the host Bears downed Framingham State College, 66-62, this evening from the Tinsley Center in Bridgewater.  

Bridgewater improves to 6-5 overall with the victory.  Framingham State falls to 5-7 on the season and 1-1 in MASCAC play.   Junior forward Nicholas Motta (New Bedford, MA) and junior guard Corey Connor (Providence, RI) tallied 15 points apiece for the Bears.  Motta also pulled down seven rebounds and registered four steals.   

Sophomore guard Corey Ryser (Tewksbury, MA) and senior guard Matt McLaughlin (Rochester, MA) also finished in double figure scoring for the Bears.  Ryser had 13 points off the bench, while McLaughlin contributed ten points to go along with four assists and three steals.  

Senior forward Josue Almodovar (Holyoke, MA) paced the visiting Rams with 19 points and nine rebounds.  Senior forward Roderick Jackson (Cambridge, MA) added 18 points and nine boards.  

The game was close throughout with ten ties and nine lead changes.  The biggest lead was a seven-point Bridgewater advantage with 4:13 remaining in the first half.  Ultimately, it all came down to the final minute of play with the Bears leading by one, 61-60.  

With 40.5 seconds left, Connor drained a long three-pointer to give Bridgewater a 64-60 advantage.  Framingham answered with a driving layup by senior guard Darius Yarrell (Brockton, MA) to cut the deficit to 64-62 with 28.5 seconds on the clock. Back-to-back Ram fouls put Connor on the line for a one-on-one and he prompty buried both free throw attempts.  Motta then came up with a steal with nine seconds remaining to put the finishing touches on the victory.  

Framingham shot the ball well as they connected on 27 of 53 (51%) field goal attempts.  30 of their 62 points also came in the paint and they outrebounded the Bears by a margin of 40-28.  The Rams, however, turned the ball over 27 times.    

Bridgewater finished 25-for-60 (42%) from the field.  The Bears knocked down 7 of 15 three-point attempts, while Framingham made just 1 of 8 from behind the arc.