BABSON PARK, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball opened the 2015-2016 campaign with a 76-67 setback to Anna Maria College on Friday night in the semifinals of the Babson College Invitational.
Senior Pat Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) poured in a game-high 26 points and classmate Kyle McKissick (Charlton, Mass.) added 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting to pace the AMCATS (1-0).
Bradanese finished 11-of-18 from the floor while also dishing out five assists and grabbing four boards. Graduate student Corey Pryor (Northbridge, Mass.) and senior Tyler Delorey (Worcester, Mass.) both finished with 12 points, while classmate Pedro Trindade (Billerica, Mass.) pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
Junior Fawaz Mass (Taunton, Mass.) and sophomore Rocky DeAndrade (Mansfield, Mass.) both scored 15 points to lead the Bears (0-1). Mass also pulled down nine rebounds, including six on the offensive glass, while junior Patrick McGuinness (New City, N.Y.) came off the bench to score nine points.
Anna Maria made 15 of its first 22 shots from the floor and took a 36-19 lead on a three-point play by Trindade with 7:22 left in the first half. McKissik gave the AMCATS their biggest lead of the first half at 47-28 with a little under two minute to go in the opening half and Bradanese, who scored 18 first-half points, banked in a deep three-pointer at the buzzer to make it 50-32 at the break.
Bridgewater State cut the deficit to 57-46 following a steal and a three-point play by McGuinnes with 14:27 remaining in the contest, but Delorey answered with a three-pointer, and sophomore Gary Stewart (Fort Washington, Md.) buried a step-back jumper on the next possession to push the Anna Maria lead back to 16 with 13:35 left.
Despite not scoring over the final 6:03, the AMCATS limited the Bears to just three field goals to advance to the Babson Invitational title game for the fourth time in six tournament appearances.
Anna Maria shot 51.6 percent on the night and outscored Bridgewater State 40-24 in the paint. The AMCATSs also held a 38-35 edge on the glass.
The Bears, who scored 16 points off 19 Anna Maria turnovers, shot just 33.9% (20-59) from the field and 64.5% (20-31) at the free throw line.
Bridgewater State will take on Framingham State in Saturday's consolation game at 2 p.m., while the AMCATS face 10th-ranked Babson in the championship game at 4 p.m.