SALEM, Mass. – The Salem State University men's basketball team clinched at least a share of the MASCAC regular-season title with a 78-64 win over Bridgewater State University on Tuesday night.

The win broke a first place tie between the teams.  The host Vikings improved to 16-7 on the season and 9-2 in league play, while Bridgewater State (13-10, 8-3 MASCAC) fell a game behind the Vikings in the standings.

With one conference game remaining, an SSU win over Worcester State on Saturday will clinch the league title and the top seed in next week's league tournament. The Vikings and Bears split their season series, with each team winning at home.

Brian Clark (Deerfield, Mass.) scored a game-high 26 points and was 12-13 from the field. Salem State shot 54% (31-57) from the field and that came despite a sluggish 5-for-17 start to the game. Clark hit his first eight shots, as well as his final four. Andrew White (Medford, Mass.) had 16 points, while Justin Nieves (Lawrence, Mass.) added 12 and Dan Clark (Deerfield, Mass.) finished with 10.

The Vikings had 10 steals and forced 21 BSU turnovers.

Salem State struggled early, and missed its first 12 shots not taken by Brian Clark, who was 5-5. When Tavone Wynder (Boston, Mass.) finally hit a three with 10 minutes remaining, the Vikings had their largest lead to that point, 19-14. The Bears were within three, 23-20, after Anthony Fortes (Providence, R.I.) scored back-to-back hoops, but Nate Simpson's (Lowell, Mass.) dunk fueled an 11-2 run and gave the Vikings a commanding 34-22 lead with four minutes remaining in the half. SSU went into the halftime locker room ahead 38-29.

Bridgewater State used a mini 6-0 run early in the second half to trim the deficit to five, 46-41, with 14 minutes remaining. But a 10-0 Viking run - including a pair of hoops each by Brian Clark and Nieves - boosted the lead to 66-47 and put the game out of reach.

Fortes finished with a team-high 20 points before fouling out. Shawn Yard (Brockton, MA) added 12.