BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State College men's basketball withstood a furious second half rally as the host Bears downed UMass Boston, 72-63, this evening at the Tinsley Center in Bridgewater.
With the win, Bridgewater State improves to 7-5 on the season. UMass falls to 3-12 with the loss.
Junior guard Judah Jackson (Everett, MA) paced the Bears with 19 points on 8 of 10 shooting. Jackson also pulled down four rebounds, dished out three assists and registered two steals.
Junior guard Corey Connor (Providence, RI) tossed in a team-high 20 points with 13 of those coming in the second half. Connor finished 4 of 8 from three-point range.
UMass Freshman guard Jason White (Roxbury, MA) led all players with 24 points. He connected on 10 of 18 field goal attempts and added six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The Bears led 33-25 at the intermission. After UMass tallied the first basket of the second half, Connor netted eight straight points to give BSC a 14-point advantage (41-27). Leading 47-35, Bridgewater went on a 13-4 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 21 points (60-39) with just over nine minutes left to play.
Over the next seven minutes it was all UMass. The Beacons outscored the Bears 20-2 to pull to within three points with two minutes remaining on the clock. White notched nine points, two rebounds, a steal and an assist during the run.
After watching a 21-point lead almost completely disappear, the Bears regrouped. Jackson ended the run with a driving layup at the 1:56 mark. UMass sophomore guard Michael Mitchell (Boston, MA) answered with a layup on the Beacons' ensuing possession, but BSC senior guard Matt McLaughlin (Rochester, MA) knocked down a jumper with 1:11 left to play to give the Bears a 66-61 lead. McLaughlin would knock down six free throws in the final 30 seconds to secure the win.
McLaughlin finished with 12 points, five rebounds, six assists, a block and a steal. Ten of his 12 points came in the second half.
Junior forward Pat Joseph (Queens, NY) also finished in double figures for UMass as he tallied 12 points. Joseph was 5-for-7 from the field and pulled down seven boards.
Bridgewater shot 50% for the game (29-for-58) and forced 21 UMass turnovers. The Bears also held the Beacons to 39% shooting (26-for-66) including just 2 of 20 from three-point range. UMass had a 40-36 rebounding advantage including a 14-9 edge on the offensive glass.