By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The much-traveled BSU basketball team has bonded away from home
The travel itinerary since last summer has included stops in Cape Verde, Las Vegas and New Jersey.
The Bridgewater State University men’s basketball team has taken to the road before and during the 2013-14 season, playing exhibition games and giving clinics in Cape Verde in August and taking part in tournaments in Las Vegas and Galloway, N.J.
The trips helped the Bears bond as a team and build chemistry, key ingredients to a successful season that will continue in the NCAA Division 3 tournament on Friday night.
BSU (16-11) travels one more time, heading to Radnor, Pa., to face Cabrini College at 7:30 p.m.
Coach Joe Farroba took 10 of his players to Cape Verde in early August where they played twice against the national team and gave four clinics.
The Bears then opened the season in mid-November by playing Richard Stockton and Plattsburgh State in the Stockton Tip-Off Invitational in New Jersey before going to Las Vegas for the D3hoops.com Classic.
“All of that definitely helped us bond together on and off the court,’’ said leading scorer and rebounder Michael Lofton. “It helped us unite as one group to go for one goal.
“We just hang out in the hotel. We like each other a lot. We’d talk about the games, things we can do better the next time.’’
The trip to Cape Verde was an educational adventure for the Bears. They lost twice at the New Jersey tournament, then defeated Ramapo and Linfield in Las Vegas right after Christmas, which helped going into the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference season.
“We’ve done great, especially since the Las Vegas trip,’’ said senior guard Brendan Monteiro of Brockton. “We built together, came closer as friends and teammates. I think that really helped as a bonding experience. We’ve played great since then.
“The rides were all about bonding together, making friendship that will probably last the rest of my life, so that’s a wonderful thing. That whole bonding experience helped the chemistry on and off the court so much.’’
Since it played two exhibition games in Cape Verde, BSU was allowed by the NCAA to have 10 days of practices during July to prepare.
That early start was a benefit as players got to work on their games at a time when they normally wouldn’t be in a practice setting.
“They’ve been playing a long time this season,’’ said Farroba. “We got back from Cape Verde, they went to school for about four weeks and the fifth week started the basketball season.’’
BSU’s opponent in the NCAAs, Cabrini, has won 69 of its last 70 home games, making it a challenging opening-round assignment.
“A game like we’re going to go play, we’re going to be a in a hostile environment,’’ said Farroba. “But you learn from being there before.
“We played in Vegas and won two games in a tournament situation. We played in the Naismith Classic (in Springfield) and played the host team. We had to win the conference championship at Salem. We’ve had to play good teams on the road.
“Yeah, we’re going to play a very good team, but it’s not like we’re not used to getting the opportunity to play in a situation like that.’’