BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Junior forwards Judah Jackson (Everett, MA) and Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, MA) scored 23 points and 22 points respectively to lead the Bridgewater State College men's basketball team to a 90-84 Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over MCLA this afternoon in Bridgewater.
Bridgewater, which had already sewn up the MASCAC regular season title, wraps up the regular season with a 17-7 overall record and an 11-1 MASCAC mark. MCLA falls to 9-15 on the season and 3-9 in conference play.
The Bears are the top seed in next week's MASCAC Tournament which gets underway on Tuesday night. Bridgewater has a first round bye and will host a semifinal game on Thursday. MCLA is the six seed and will travel to Salem State College on Tuesday for a first round game with the third-seeded Vikings.
Jackson connected on 7 of 13 field goal attempts and was 8-for-10 from the free throw line. He also added seven rebounds, five assists, two blocks and three steals. Motta finished 10-for-13 from the floor and knocked down 2 of 3 three-point attempts. He dished out five assists to go along with three boards, a block and a pair of steals.
MCLA received a double-double effort of 25 points and 19 rebounds from junior center Jon Greenberg (Antwerp, Belgium). Sophomore forward Chris Harris (Dorchester, MA) also posted a double-double with 22 points and ten boards before fouling out with 15 seconds left in the contest.
Bridgewater pulled out the win despite struggling in the rebounding column for the second straight game. The Bears were outrebounded by a margin of 44-24, including a 24-7 MCLA edge on the offensive glass.
BSC, however, shot 55% (30-for-55) from the field and connected on 24 of 28 (86%) free throw attempts. The Bears also forced 21 turnovers which led to 29 points. MCLA posted shooting percentage of 42% (28-for-66) from the field and 76% (22-for-29) at the line. The Trailblazers turned their 24 offensive rebounds into 27 second chance points. Bridgewater, on the other hand, had just six second chance points.
Senior guard Matt McLaughlin (Rochester, MA) added 16 points and a game-high eight assists for the host Bears. McLaughlin was a perfect 12-for-12 at the charity stripe as he knocked down ten free throws in the last four minutes of the contest and six in the final 47 seconds. Junior guard Corey Connor (Providence, RI) also finished in double-figure scoring as he tallied 12 points.
The Bears led 43-35 at the intermission and got up by as many as 18 points (59-41) early in the first half. Trailing by 14 (65-51) with 11:10 remaining, MCLA used the scoring and rebounding of Greenberg and Harris to outscore the Bears 18-8 over the next seven minutes and pull to within four (73-69). The duo combined for 14 points and nine boards during that seven-minute stretch.
Bridgewater, however, answered with five consecutive points on four free throws by McLaughlin and one from Jackson to go back up by nine (78-69) with 3:24 remaining. The Bears then knocked down 10 of 10 free throw attempts in the final 1:12 to secure the 90-84 win.
Prior to the game, McLaughlin and fellow seniors Chris Dijak (Lunenburg, MA) and Anthony Goss (Boston, MA) were honored as they were playing in their final regular season home contest.