BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - Senior guard Tom Cuddihy (Scituate, MA) registered a game-high 25 points and junior forward Roland Millien (Stoughton, MA) notched his tenth double-double of the season to lead Bridgewater State College to a 82-68 victory over Fitchburg State on senior day at the Tinsley Center.
With the win the Bears have won three of their last four games and they even up their record at 12-12 and 6-6 in the MASCAC. Fitchburg State falls to 16-8 and 8-4 in league play. BSC ends the season splitting every league opponent this year.
BSC, seeded fifth in next weeks conference tournament will be on the road on Tuesday night for a first round game. Bridgewater State College will face No. 4 seed Framingham State on the road for a 7 o'clock match-up.
Millien paced the Bears with 12 points and 12 rebounds while freshman Judah Jackson (Everett, MA) added 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. Sophomore guard Matt McLaughlin (Rochester, MA) tallied a game-high 10 assists and 3 steals.
Cuddihy was 6-for-12 from the field, 3-for-6 from beyond the three-point arc, and 10-11 from the charity stripe while also finishing the game with 6 assists. With his 25 points, Cuddihy now moves into sixth place on BSC's all-time scoring list with 1,468 career points. He passed Joe Wise who scored 1,451 points from 1970-73. Cuddihy's three-three-pointers also gives him 245 for his career as he ties Joe O'Connor's (1989-93) all-time school record.
For Fitchburg State, junior forward Brian Torres (North Dighton, MA) scored a team-high 21 points while senior Peter Uzoma (Boston, MA) pulled down a game best 14 rebounds. Junior guard Jeff Kozik (Auburn, MA) added 15 points while classmate Brian Skiffington (North Adams, MA) chipped in with 10 points off the bench.
The Falcons shot a porous 0-for-9 from the 3-point line in the first half and then turned it around in the second to shoot 7-for-11 (64%) by the end of the stanza. Torres scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half while Kozik also added 10 points.
The Bears edged out FSC 38-36 in rebounding while Fitchburg State controlled the offensive glass 15-14. Bridgewater State College forced 21 Falcon turnovers and finished the game shooting a 47% (28-for-60) clip from the field.
Fitchburg State raced to a 14-9 lead with 12:42 left to play and then BSC went on a 10-0 run holding the Falcon's scoreless for the next 2½ minutes (19-14). FSC brought the score as close as 19-17, but BSC held them off on four consecutive free throws by Cuddihy.
At the 5:22 mark, the Bears went on a 10-5 scoring run to close out the first stanza and send both teams with the locker room with Bridgewater State leading 37-25.
Following the intermission BSC started the half with a 10-6 spurt and built the lead up to 46-31 with 15:11 left in the game. Fitchburg State did not get to within single digits for the rest of the game and Bridgewater State's margin got as far as 19 points at the 5:43 mark (69-50).
FSC was tagged with two technical fouls in the second half.
Written by Steven M. Miller, Jr. --- Sports Information Correspondent