Men's Basketball Falls to Springfield in Tip-Off Classic Title Game, 88-75

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Springfield College captured the 2012 BSU Men's Basketball Tip-Off Tournament title as the Pride downed the host Bears of Bridgewater State University, 88-75, in the tournament championship game on Saturday afternoon at the Tinsley.

Senior guard Alex Berthiaume (Springfield, Mass.) was named the Tournament MVP as he notched 21 points, four rebounds and four assists in the title game.  Berthiaume averaged 25.5 points, 6.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds for the tournament

Also earning All-Tournament honors for the Pride was senior guard Jordan Rote (Sheffield, Mass.) who, along with Berthiaume, was one of three Springfield players to notch 21 points in the championship game win over the Bears.  Rote finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while sophomore guard Josh Altman (Rockport, Mass.) came off the bench to score 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting including 3-of-3 from three-point range.

The Pride shot 61% (30-for-49) from the floor and knocked down 22 of 25 (88%) free throw attempts.  Springfield's bench outscored the Bridgewater reserves by a margin of 30-7 led by Altman's 21 points.

Springfield led 45-32 at the intermission with Berthiaume and Rote scoring 12 points apiece in the opening twenty minutes.

A 13-4 early second half run highlighted by eight points from sophomore forward Kyle Gibson (Franklin, Mass.) and five from junior guard Brendan Monteiro (Brockton, Mass.) got Bridgewater back in the game.  Later in the period, the Bears were able to whittle the deficit the deficit down to two, 58-56, on a Justin Clark (Yarmouth Port, Mass.) three-pointer with 12:23 remaining.  Bridgewater would take its only lead of the final stanza moments later on junior guard Brian Grossman's (Duxbury, Mass.) trifecta.

With the score tied at 61-61, Springfield would use an 8-0 run to take control of the game for good.  Bridgewater would get no closer than six points the rest of the way.

Gibson and Monteiro finished with 22 points apiece to lead the Bears.  Gibson also grabbed seven rebounds.  Senior guard Shawn Yard (Brockton, Mass.) added 12 points, three rebounds, two steals and a game-high ten assists.  Yard was the Bears' representative on the All-Tournament Team.

Bridgewater shot 40% (29-for-72) from the floor, 33% (5-for-15) from behind the arc and 80% (12-for-15) at the charity stripe.  The Bears scored 18 points off of Springfield's 20 turnovers.