BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior guard Ryan Carney (Easton, Mass.) scored a team-best 20 points, including the 1,000th of his career, to lead fourth-seeded Bridgewater State University to a 101-84 victory over #5 Framingham State University in the opening round of the 2019 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday evening at the Tinsley Center.
The Bears (9-17) advance to the tournament semifinal round and will travel to top-seeded Salem State University on Thursday night to take on the Vikings at seven. Bridgewater is now 10-3 all-time against Framingham in the MASCAC Tournament including 8-0 at home. The Rams end the season with an overall record of 6-19.
Carney became the 29th player in BSU men's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. The milestone basket came on his final shot of the day, a three-pointer from the top of the arc with 26 seconds remaining in the game.
BSU freshman guard Admar Jaramillo (Brockton, Mass.) paced the Bears with 19 points, three rebounds, three assists, one blocked shot and a career-best ten steals, while classmate Jose Monteiro Jr. (Brockton, Mass.) came off the bench to score a career-high 18 points on 7 of 8 shooting in 17 minutes of action.
Junior forward Rayshon Ward (Fayetteville, Mass.) and sophomore forward Nick Crocker (Falmouth, Mass.) each recorded double-doubles for the hosts with Ward picking up his 15th of the season. Ward tallied 12 points and ten rebounds to go along with four steals and a career-high eight assists, while Crocker notched ten points and a game-high 13 boards as well as three assists and three blocks.
Junior forward Dimitri St. Louis (Brockton, Mass.) rounded out the Bears' six double-digit point producers as he scored 14 points and added four rebounds and a pair of steals.
The Bears overcame a tremendous individual effort by Framingham senior guard Manny Payton (Fitchburg, Mass.) who poured in a game-high 38 points on 16 of 27 shooting. The 38 points equaled Payton's career-high.
With the score knotted at 21-21 at the 11:30 mark of the first half, the Bears went on a 21-4 run over the next six minutes to open up a 42-25 lead. Monteiro Jr. scored eight points during the run including a pair of three-pointers. Framingham answered with a 10-2 run to close the gap to 44-35, but a Monteiro Jr. trifecta with the shot clock winding down on the Bears' final possession of the stanza extended the BSU advantage to 12 (47-35) as the teams headed to the intermission.
Monteiro Jr. paced the Bears with 11 first-half points on 4 of 5 shooting including a trio of three-pointers. Payton led all scorers in the opening stanza with 12 points. Bridgewater shot 54% (19-35) from the floor and 44% (7-16) from behind the arc over the first 20 minutes, while Framingham connected on 45% (15-33) of its field goal attempts but went just 2-for-10 from long range.
After Payton opened the second half scoring with a layup, the Bears reeled off seven straight points to open up a 17-point lead (54-37). A Jaramillo three-pointer started the spurt. A 10-1 Framingham run, highlighted by three layups by Payton, closed the gap to eight, 55-47, with 14:35 remaining. Bridgewater answered with a 12-2 run to take a commanding 18-point lead (67-49). Jaramillo scored five points and Monteiro Jr. notched four during the rally which was capped off by a Ward traditional three-point play. The Bears got up by as many as 23 points (84-61) in the half and maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the way.
Bridgewater shot 50% (36-72) for the game including 12-for-32 (38%) from three-point land. The Bears also went 17-for-25 (68%) at the free throw line. The BSU defense forced 19 turnovers thanks in large part to 18 steals highlighted by Jaramillo's ten thefts.
Fitchburg shot 47% (35-74) from the floor, 26% (5-19) from behind the arc and 75% (9-12) at the charity stripe.
Senior guard Khaneil Bruce (Cambridge, Mass.), sophomore forward Cameron McCloud-Thomas (Springfield, Mass.) and freshman guard Tomas Donoyan (Belmont, Mass.) added 11 points apiece for the Rams with McCloud-Thomas (ten rebounds) and Bruce (12 rebounds) each posting double-doubles.