By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's tennis team is back in the Little East Conference championship round.

After winning the 2024 Little East title last spring, the Bears are one win away from repeating.

Second-seeded BSU (8-4) advanced to the final with a 5-0 victory over the third University of Massachusetts Boston in the semifinal round at the Rosen Memorial Tennis Courts Thursday afternoon.

The Bears will face top-seeded Rhode Island College (11-1) in the championship match on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Providence, R.I.

RIC defeated fourth-seeded Western Connecticut State University, 5-1, in the other semifinal round.

BSU defeated RIC, 5-1, in the '24 title round for its first Little East championship in the current format.

This season, the Anchormen went 6-0 in the conference, including a 6-3 win over the Bears on April 15.

For the second year in a row, BSU eliminated UMass Boston (7-8) in the semifinal round. The Bears also defeated the Beacons in the regular-season finale to earn the No. 2 seed this season.

BSU started the match by winning all three doubles matces.

Junior Adam Beatrice (Rockland, Mass.) and sophomore Khiem Nguyen (Burlington, Vt.) won at No. 1 doubles, 8-1, over freshman Dominik Dwyer (Dedham, Mass.) and freshman Victor Xu (Bolton, Mass.).

At No. 2 doubles, junior Tom Ayson (Plymouth, Mass.) and sophomore Anthony Lucas (Weymouth, Mass.) won, 8-2, over junior Maxwell Dill (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) and Shrenith Saravana Rakshana (Bengaluru, India).

Junior Ryan Hebert (Taunton, Mass.) and freshman Tyler Rocchio (Attleboro, Mass.) posted an 8-4 win over freshman James Tiger Li (Quincy, Mass.) and sophomore Joseph Malone (Dennis, Mass.).

BSU won the two singles matches that were completed.

Lucas was a 6-1, 6-0 winner over Tiger Li at No. 4 singles and senior Matthew Krampf (Littleton, Mass.) won, 6-1, 6-2, over Saravana Rakshana at the sixth flight to secure the decisive fifth point.

Beatrice, Ayson, Nguyen and Hebert were all up a set in singles play at the first, second, third and fifth flights, respectively, when the match was stopped.

BSU has back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2012-13.