BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State College men's basketball team erased an eight-point halftime deficit and went on to upset nationally ranked UMass Dartmouth, 89-87, this evening at the Tinsley Center in Bridgewater.
The Bears improve to 4-1 on the season with the exciting win. UMass, who came into the week ranked 20th in the country in the D3hoops.com poll, falls to 4-1 as the Corsairs suffered their first loss of the year.
Senior center Roland Millien (Stoughton, MA) paced the Bears as he notched a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Millien connected on 6-of-7 field goal attempts and was 10-for-12 from the free throw line.
Trailing 47-39 at the intermission, Bridgewater State came out strong to open the second half as the Bears outscored the Corsairs 16-6 over the first 5 ½ minutes to take a 55-53 lead.
Later in the half, with the game tied at 61-61, UMass went on a 9-2 run to go up 70-63 with 9:21 remaining in the period. Staring at a six-point deficit (74-68) with 7:57 left on the clock, Bridgewater scored 12 unanswered points to take an 80-74 lead.
With 1:39 to play, UMass was able to cut the Bears' lead to one point (83-82) on a basket by sophomore forward Brandon Stephens (Dorchester, MA). BSC junior guard Matt McLaughlin (Rochester, MA), however, answered with a pair of free throws at the other end of the floor. After a UMass turnover, sophomore forward Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, MA) connected on one of two free throw attempts to up the Bears' lead to 86-82.
The Corsairs would not go quietly, however, as Stephens buried a three-pointer with 34 seconds to go to make it a one-point game at 86-85. BSC got a pair of free throws from junior guard Anthony Goss (Boston, MA) with 26 seconds left to push the advantage up to three points.
With a chance to tie the game, UMass couldn't convert at their end of the floor. Millien responded by hitting on one of two free throws with ten second left to give BSC an 89-85 lead. Junior forward Brandon Shelton (Cambridge, MA) made a layup with just 1.1 seconds left on the clock to close to with two points, but BSC was able to inbound the ball and run out the clock.
Shelton led the Corsairs with 23 points on 10 of 15 shooting while also pulling down six boards. Stephens finished with 22 points and six rebounds before fouling out late in the game. Junior guard Jeff Macchi (Franklin, MA) added 16 points as well as six rebounds.
Along with Millien's 22-point effort, the Bears had four other players finish in double figures. Motta scored 19 points with 16 of those coming in the first half. Goss and sophomore guard Corey Connor (Providence, RI) came off the bench to notch 11 and 13 points respectively. Sophomore forward Judah Jackson (Everett, MA) added 11 points, six rebounds and five steals. McLaughlin chipped in with a game-high nine assists to go along with eight points.
Bridgewater had a decided advantage at the free throw line attempting 28 foul shots (22-for-28) compared to just six free throw attempts (5-for-6) for the Corsairs. After connecting on 6 of 11 three-point attempts in the first half, UMass was just 2-for-10 from behind the arc in the final stanza.
Up next on the schedule for the Bears is a trip to Wheaton College on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is slated for 3 PM. UMass hosts Western Connecticut State University in their Little East Conference opener on Saturday at 4 PM.