BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Third-seeded Bridgewater State University posted a 60-51 victory over #6 Framingham State University in the opening round of the 2016 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night at the Tinsley Center.
The host Bears (13-12) advance to the MASCAC Tournament semifinal round and will travel to second-seeded Salem State University on Thursday night to take on the Vikings. Game time is slated for 7:00 PM. The Rams end the season with an overall record of 5-21.
Junior guard Fawaz Mass (Taunton, Mass.) paced Bridgewater State with 16 points while sophomore guard Rocky DeAndrade (Mansfield, Mass.) added 15 points and freshman guard Ryan Carney (Easton, Mass.) tallied ten in 19 minutes off the bench.
Sophomore forward Tony Alexandre (Hyde Park, Mass.) posted a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds to lead Framingham State. Alexandre was the only Ram who scored in double figures.
The game was close throughout. Neither team held a double-digit advantage and the final score of 60-51 accounted for the largest lead of the game.
In a first half which featured five lead changes, the Bears got up by as many as eight points (23-15). The Rams, however, battled back and tied the game at 31-31 on a buzzer beating three-pointer by sophomore guard Ben Roache (Dighton, Mass.).
Alexandre led all scorers with eight points in the first half, while Carney, DeAndrade and Mass paced the Bears with seven points apiece.
With the score tied at 45-45 with 8:38 left to play in the final stanza, the Bears outscored the Rams 9-1 over the next four minutes to pull ahead, 54-46. DeAndrade tallied five points, including a three-pointer, and the BSU defense forced four turnovers during the run.
A Roache baseline jumper and an Alexandre free throw cut the deficit to 54-49 with 2:52 remaining. After a stop, the Rams had a chance to make it a one possession game but turned the ball over. The Bears then missed the front end of a one-on-one, but once again the Rams were unable to take advantage.
Out of a timeout, Mass drove to the hoop for a layup to give Bridgewater a 56-49 lead with just 1:23 left to play. Junior guard Daniel Gould (Quincy, Mass.) answered with a pair of free throws at the other end of the floor and the FSU defense forced a turnover to regain possession. However, a Gould three-pointer was off the mark.
DeAndrade and Mass each knocked down a pair of free throws in the final 47 seconds to round out the scoring and seal the 60-51 win for the Bears.
Bridgewater shot 42% (21-50) for the game and converted 5 of 12 (42%) three-point field goal attempts. The Bears also went 13-for-21 (62%) at the free throw line.
Framingham connected on 37% (19-52) of its field goal attempts including just 5-for-23 (22%) from behind the arc. The Rams went 6-for-14 (57%) at the charity stripe and turned the ball over 16 times.