Men's Basketball Rally Falls Short in 78-75 Loss to Becker

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Becker College men's basketball team withstood a second half rally as the Hawks held on for a 78-75 victory over host Bridgewater State University on Tuesday night at the Tinsley Center in Bridgewater.

Becker improves to 6-1 with the triumph, while Bridgewater drops to 4-3.

Senior forward Rajai Leggett (New Haven, CT) paced visiting Becker with 17 points, ten rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.  Junior forward Terrance Favors (Boston, MA) added 16 points, three assists and three steals.

BSU senior forward Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, MA) led all scorers with 20 points.  Senior center Samuel Johnson (North Chelmsford, MA) posted his third straight double-double as he tallied 14 points and a game-high 12 boards to go along with four blocked shots.

The Hawks held a 39-30 advantage at the half and increased their lead to 19 points with 12:45 remaining in the second stanza.  Bridgewater responded with a 12-2 run to cut the deficit to nine (63-54) with 8:01 left to play.

The Bears pulled to within five points moments later on a pair of free throws by sophomore guard Anthony Fortes (East Providence, RI), but Becker got the lead back up to nine and maintained that edge with just 49 seconds remaining in the contest.

Two free throws by BSU sophomore guard Shawn Yard (Brockton, MA) and a Corey Connor (Providence, RI) three-pointer were sandwiched around a single free throw by Becker senior center Trae Jacobs (Lexington Park, MD) as the Bears got it down to five (76-71) with 27 seconds on the clock.

After senior guard DeJohn Joseph-Exum (New London, CT) connected on just one of two free throws for Becker, Connor drove in for a layup with 11 seconds remaining to pull Bridgewater to within four at 77-73.  Hawks' junior forward Markus Wright (New Haven, CT) made just one of two at the charity stripe and Fortes knocked down a layup at the other end of the floor to make it a three-point game, 78-75.  The Bears forced a turnover on the ensuing possession but could not get a shot off as time expired. 

Jacobs finished with 13 points and six rebounds while Wright notched 14 points, four boards, four assists and three steals.

Bridgewater had five players in double-figure scoring led by Motta and Johnson.  Fortes recorded 11 points to go along with five rebounds and three steals, while Connor finished with ten points.  Senior guard Judah Jackson (Everett, MA) added 12 points, four boards and five assists.  

Becker shot 53% (31-for-59) from the floor and recorded 17 steals which helped lead to 25 Bridgewater State turnovers.  The Hawks also turned the ball over 23 times themselves.

The Bears knocked down 45% (26-for-58) of their field goal attempts, but were just 6 of 21 (29%) from three-point range.