BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team coasted to an 87-54 MASCAC win over Fitchburg State University on Saturday afternoon in Fitchburg.

The visiting Bears improve to 12-8 on the season and 4-4 in the MASCAC, while the Falcons fall to 3-16 overall and 0-8 in conference play. 

Bridgewater quickly jumped out to a double-digit lead, outscoring Fitchburg by a margin of 16-5 over the first four minutes of play.  The Bears would not look as they held 52-27 halftime advantage and increased their lead to as much as 34 points in the second half.

Corey Connor, Anthony Fortes and Nicholas Motta paced the Bears as the trio combined to score 44 points in the first half to put the game out of reach.  Connor scored all 18 of his points in the opening stanza as he knocked down 4 of 6 three-point attempts.

Motta finished with 18 points, six rebounds and two steals.  He also drained four three-pointers in the first half as the Bears.  Fortes added 16 points on 8 of 12 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and a pair of assists.

Bridgewater shot 53% (33-62) from the floor for the game, including 12-for-23 (52%) from behind the arc.  The Bears recorded 12 steals led by Shawn Yard's game-high four.

Jeremy Kimber led the way for Fitchburg with 21 points, four rebounds, two assists, a block and two steals.  The Falcons connected on 20 of 56 field goal attempts (36%) and turned the ball over 19 times with 12 of those turnovers coming in the first 20 minutes.