College Basketball: Bridgewater State Men Advance to Semifinal Round

By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team has put together its best stretch at the right time of the season.

The Bears are riding a five-game winning streak with seven victories in their past eight games to climb above .500 at 13-12.

BSU will have momentum on its side when it travels to Salem State University on Thursday night for a semifinal-round game in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament.

The third-seeded Bears advanced Tuesday night with a 60-51 victory over sixth-seeded Framingham State University in the quarterfinal round at the Tinsley Center, defeating the Rams for the fourth time this season.

The Bears made it to the MASCAC title game last season, losing to Westfield State with four senior starters and a junior, Tyler DeMelo, who is sitting out this season with an injury.

Coach Joe Farroba had to piece together a new starting lineup, a task that became complicated by a series of injuries throughout the year.

But BSU has survived and made it to the semifinal round for a meeting with second-seeded Salem State.

"We've had injuries and stuff, but we're in the semifinals,'' said Farroba. "If somebody had told me in October, 'Joe, you're going to go 9-4 in the league and get to the semifinals,' guess what, I would take it.''

The Bears used a 12-3 run over a span of 4:21 in the second half to turn a 43-42 deficit into a 54-46 lead over the Rams (5-21).

Fawaz Mass of Taunton led the way with 16 points and four rebounds while Rocky DeAndrade added 15 points, Ryan Carney of Easton chipped in with 10 points and Joseph Carty had nine rebounds and eight points.

"Last year, all these kids were coming off the bench, subbing in for a senior group,'' said Farroba. "Now they're getting a lot of minutes and playing well.

"Obviously, Fawaz was big for us tonight and I thought Rocky had a pretty solid game.''

Framingham State overcame an eight-point deficit to force a 31-31 tie at halftime and was in front three times early in the second half before BSU took over.

DeAndrade scored six of the 12 points in the key run, hitting a 3-pointer, while Michael Soares came off the bench to contribute a pair of baskets.

The Rams were unable to get any closer than five in the final 6:30 and were limited to 20 second-half points on 6-for-24 shooting.

"To hold them like that is pretty good defense,'' said Farroba, "and that's what we've been doing all year.

"I felt like it was going to be a grind-it-out game and I felt we could get some separation at the end like we did.''

The Bears will practice tonight, then head to Salem State (15-10) where they won, 77-71, on Feb. 10 after losing to the Vikings on Jan. 16 at the Tinsley Center.

"It will be a wide-open game,'' said Farroba. "You'll get shots. They spread the court. But you've got to be them in their gym. We did it once and I think it helps you. But they've got a good thing right now as co-champions (in the regular season).''