By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's tennis team is headed for a Little East Conference first-place showdown riding a five-match winning streak.

The Bears defeated the University of Massachusetts Boston, 5-2, Saturday afternoon at the Rosen Memorial Tennis Courts.

BSU (7-4) is tied for the top spot in the Little East with defending champion Rhode Island College at 4-0.

The Bears and Anchormen, who each have two conference matches to go, will square off Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. with BSU hosting.

The winner will clinch at least a tie for the regular-season championship and own the head-to-head tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed.

The Bears defeated UMass Boston (6-8, 2-2 Little East) for the seventh straight time and own a 22-19 lead in the series since 1985.

BSU opened the match by taking two of three doubles matches for the first point.

At No. 2, freshman Will Horton (Lakeville, Mass.) and senior Ryan Hebert (Taunton, Mass.) defeated sophomore Dominik Dwyer (Dedham, Mass.) and junior Mario Pangione (Carver, Mass.), 6-2.

The duo of junior Tom Ayson (Plymouth, Mass.) and junior Anthony Lucas (Weymouth, Mass.) scored a 6-1 win over junior Joseph Malone (Dennis, Mass.) and sophomore James Tiger Li (Quincy, Mass.).

UMass Boston took No. 1 doubles as freshman William Kubinec (East Boston, Mass.) and freshman Thomas Ameral (Ellington, Conn>) stopped senior Adam Beatrice (Rockland, Mass.) and junior Khiem Nguyen (Burlington, Vt.), 6-4.

In singles, Beatrice won at No. 2 over Kubinec, 6-0, 7-5, while Ayson prevailed at No. 4 over Pangione, 7-5, 6-2.

Lucas was a 7-5, 6-0 winner over Malone at No. 5 and Hebert took NO. 6 over junior Shrenith Saravana Rakshana (Bengalunu, India), 6-1, 6-1.

Dwyer won at No. 1 singles over Horton, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4, and Ameral gave UMass Boston a win at No. 3 over Nguyen, 6-4, 6-0.

The match with RIC will be the final regular-season home appearance for the Bears.

UMass Boston returns to action at Vermont State Castleton at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.