PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Senior center Roland
Millien (Stoughton, MA) posted his fifth double-double of
the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bridgewater
State College men's basketball team to a 88-78 victory over Aurora
University in opening round action of the 2008 Cactus Jam held at
Phoenix College.
The Bears (6-2) will take on Wisconsin-Superior on Monday at 4:30
(EST) in tournament semifinal action. Wisconsin defeated
Transylvania University (Kentucky), 81-64, in their first round
game.
Bridgewater took a 55-38 lead into halftime thanks to outstanding
first half shooting. The Bears connected on 20 of 32 field
goal attempts in the opening stanza including 6-for-12 from beyond
the arc. BSC also shot 90% (9-for-10) from the free throw line and
closed out the half with a 12-4 run over the last 2:15.
In the second half, Bridgewater State built the lead up to 19
points on two occasions including a 61-42 advantage with 15:18 to
play. Over the next five minutes however, Aurora outscored
the Bears by a margin of 20-6 to pull to within five points (67-62)
with just over ten minutes remaining in the game.
That would be as close as the Spartans would get as BSC built their
lead up to ten points on three separate occasions over the last
minute and a half including the final score of 88-78.
Millien connected on 6 of 10 field goal attempts and finished
7-for-9 from the free throw line. Junior guard Matt
McLaughlin (Rochester, MA) chipped in with 16 points as he
went 4-for-6 from the floor and 8-for-10 from the charity stripe.