PLYMOUTH, N.H. -- Bridgewater State College placed five scorers in double figures Thursday night and defeated Plymouth State University, 94-82, in non-conference men's basketball action at Foley Gymnasium.
Junior Roland Millien (Stoughton, Mass.) led the Bears with 24 points and 14 rebounds, converting 8-of-13 field goal attempts and adding two blocked shots and two steals. He helped the Bears break a four-game losing skid and improve to 2-4, while PSU dropped its third straight contest and dipped to 3-4.
Junior Ben Huntington (Hampstead, N.H./Pinkerton) led all scorers with 23 points for the Panthers. Sophomore Bryan Tracy (Manchester, N.H./Central) added 15 points for the home team, and sophomores Mike Chergey (Bow, N.H.) and Jason O'Keefe (Everett, Mass.) chipped in with 10 points apiece.
Joining Millien in the scoring parade for the Bears was senior Tom Cuddihy (Scituate, Mass.) with 18 points, sophomore Jim Torney (Braintree, Mass.) with 17, and freshmen Judah Jackson (Everett, Mass.) and Cesar Oliveira (Taunton, Mass.) with 11 and 10, respectively. Cuddihy jumped up three spots on BSC's all-time scoring list, and now ranks 14th with 1,192 career points.
The first half was close the entire 20 minutes. PSU held a modest lead the first five minutes, and BSC answered with the advantage the next five minutes. The Panthers regained the lead and maintained a narrow margin for the next nine minutes, until the Bears hit a lay-up in the closing seconds to take a one-point lead (45-44) into the locker room.
Huntington hit a three-pointer to start the second half and give the Panthers their last lead. The Bears took over and went on a 24-10 surge over the next seven minutes to claim the first double-digit lead (69-57) of the night. PSU hung tough and got the deficit down to six points with just under two minutes to go, but BSC broke the pressure defense and made its free throws down the stretch to pull out the win.
Bridgewater State shot nearly 53 percent from the field while holding PSU to a 45.7 percent shooting clip. The Panthers, who came into the game shooting over 80 percent from the free throw line as a team, converted just 10-of-18 from the stripe while turning the ball over 27 times.
PSU returns to Little East Conference action Saturday with a visit to Western Connecticut (3:00 p.m.). BSC also plays again on Saturday, visiting Western New England College (1:00 p.m.).