BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Third-seeded Bridgewater State University posted a 65-41 victory over #6 Framingham State University in the opening round of the 2017 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletics Conference (MASCAC) Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday evening at the Tinsley Center.
The host Bears (15-11) advance to the MASCAC Tournament semifinal round for the 11th time in the last 12 years 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 7-19.
Senior guard Fawaz Mass (Taunton, Mass.) led the way for Bridgewater State with a game-high 16 points to go along with eight rebounds. Junior guard Rocky DeAndrade (Mansfield, Mass.) added nine points and six boards, while senior forward Greg Romanko (Mansfield, Mass.) checked in with nine points and five rebounds.
Senior forward Timothy Mangano (Winchester, Mass.) paced Framingham with 14 points, while junior forward Bertholyn Alexandre (Hyde Park, Mass.) posted a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Bears opened the game with a 15-2 run as they held the Rams to just two points over the first five-plus minutes of the contest. Mass and DeAndrade each scored six points during the spurt.
After the Rams cut the deficit to seven (17-10), the Bears reeled off 12 unanswered points to take a commanding 29-10 lead with 7 ½ minutes remaining in the period. Back-to-back Romanko three-pointers and a Mass trifecta highlighted the run.
Later in the period, another Romanko three gave Bridgewater its biggest lead of the stanza, 37-14, as the clock ticked under a minute.
An Alexandre trifecta at the buzzer closed out the scoring in the half as the Rams trailed 37-17 at the break.
The BSU defense was impressive over the opening 20 minutes as the Bears' forced seven turnovers and limited the Rams to just 25% (5-20) shooting.
Mass led all scorers in the first half with 11 points on 5 of 6 shooting. Romanko scored all nine of his points as he connected on 3 of 4 three-point attempts. Mangano paced the visitors with seven points.
In the second half, the Rams were able to pull to within 13 (43-30) following an Alexandre layup with just over 11 minutes remaining. The Bears, however, answered with a 9-2 run to take control of the game and Framingham never threatened the rest of the way.
Bridgewater shot 42% (23-55) for the game including 9-for-21 (43%) from behind the arc. The Bears won the battle of the boards with a with a 43-29 rebounding advantage (14-6 offensive), and held the edge in second chance points (18-4) and points off turnovers (14-3). The BSU bench also outscored the Framingham reserves, 21-9, with senior guard Keyon Armstrong (Brockton, Mass.) leading the way with eight points off the pine.
Framingham bounced back with 41% (9-22) shooting in the second half, but shot just 33% (14-42) overall for the game.