BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - The Bridgewater State College men's basketball team won their tenth straight game as the Bears knocked off non-conference foe Bowdoin College, 68-56, this evening at the Tinsley Center in Bridgewater.
The ten-game winning streak is the longest for a BSC men's basketball team since the 1982-83 season. That year's squad won 11 straight games and finished the campaign with a record of 21-6.
Senior center Roland Millien (Stoughton, MA) paced the Bears (16-5) as he led all players with 16 points while also pulling down six rebounds and recording five steals. Senior forward Stace Garrick (West Warwick, RI) came off the bench to notch 15 points, four rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes.
Bridgewater took control of the game in the late stages of the first half as the Bears outscored the Polar Bears 18-5 over the last seven minutes. BSC got up by as many as 22 points (55-33) midway through the second half before settling for the 68-56 victory. Bowdoin had a brief 10-3 spurt late in the half, but BSC made 6 of 6 free throw attempts in the final two minutes to secure the win.
Junior center Mark Phillips (Ashland, MA) was the only Polar Bear in double-figure scoring as he finished with 10 points to go along with five rebounds in just 17 minutes. Senior forward Tim Lane (Townsend, MA) chipped in with nine points and six boards.
Bridgewater State limited Bowdoin to just 18 points in the opening stanza as the Polar Bears shot 34.8% from the floor and turned the ball over 14 times. Bowdoin, which finished with 20 turnovers, had been averaging only 13.4 turnovers per game entering the contest.
BSC, on the other hand, connected on 15 of 27 (55.6%) field goal attempts in the first half and turned the ball over just six times. The Bears shot 50% from the floor for the game and made 13 of 15 free throw attempts.
Sophomore guard Judah Jackson (Everett, MA) added 11 points for Bridgewater with all 11 coming in the first half. Junior guard Matt McLaughlin (Rochester, M A) scored ten points on 4 of 5 shooting while also dishing out four assists. Sophomore forward Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, MA) recorded 6 of the Bears' 15 steals.
The game marked the first meeting of the two teams since the first round of the 1999 NCAA Division III Tournament when the Polar Bears defeated the Bears, 68-48.
With his 16 points, Millien moved past Bill Scigliano into 23rd place on the Bears' all-time scoring list as he now has 1,026 points in his career. Scigliano recorded 1,020 points from 1980 to 1984.
The MASCAC schedule resumes for Bridgewater State on Saturday as the Bears travel to Worcester State College to take on the Lancers at 6 PM. Bowdoin (14-8) hosts NESCAC rival Wesleyan University on Friday night at 7 PM.