By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's and women's basketball teams will both be bidding for championships this weekend.
The Bears hit the road to play Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference title games with the two games taking place on Saturday at 1 p.m. The winners advance to next week's NCAA Division 3 tournament.
The second-seeded men's team (14-11) takes on top-seeded and defending champion Worcester State University (17-9).
Nearly 30 miles to the east, the second-seeded and defending champion BSU women's team (15-11) goes against top-seeded Framingham State University (23-2).
The BSU and Worcester State men split regular-season games as did the Bears and Rams women's teams.
It marks the fifth time since the MASCAC tourney began in 1990 that both Bridgewater State teams reached the conference championship round in the same season.
The last time it happened was 2015 when both Bears teams traveled to Westfield State. The women won a noon game over the Owls, 60-57, while the men lost to Westfield State, 78-69, a few hours later.
In 2011 and 2014, BSU's teams both won MASCAC titles on the same day, while in 2006, the men won the championship the same day the women finished second.
The Bears advanced to the final round with victories at the Tinsley Center over Westfield State before large crowds Thursday night.
Here's a preview of the MASCAC championship games:
Men's Basketball at Worcester State
The Bears are in the MASCAC final for the first time since winning the 2018 title against Fitchburg State University. Worcester State defeated Westfield State in last year's championship game after losing in the final to Westfield State in 2022.
BSU, which has won seven conference tournament titles, lost at Worcester State, 84-79, on Jan. 13 and coasted to a home win on Feb. 7, 93-61.
"Worcester's going to be tough," said Bears second-year coach Matt McLaughlin. "If you want to be the champs, you've got to beat the champs. We've got to go through them.
"We've got to take care of the ball. We've got to execute. We've got to be the aggressors, play with confidence. If we do that, I like our chances."
In BSU's loss to the Lancers, the Bears led, 70-60, with 7:19 to go, but they were outscored, 24-9, the rest of the way. BSU missed nine of its last 12 shots and had four turnovers, including two in the final 50 seconds with the game on the line.
At home, the Bears led by 24 points at the half and held the Lancers to 38 percent shooting with Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) and Precious Okoh (Brockton, Mass.) scoring 28 and 25 points, respectively.
Worcester State has won four straight games since losing at BSU, including a 76-52 MASCAC semifinal-round victory over the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Thursday.
The Bears, who began the MASCAC with a 2-2 record, are looking forward to the program's first shot at a title in six years.
"Any opportunity like this, to compete at the championship level, that's where you want to be," said graduate student Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) "That's the best kind of game."
"We've played well against Worcester," said Okoh. "It's going to be a different environment there. It's going to be loud, but we're definitely ready for that. I'm not leaving here without a title."
Women's Basketball at Framingham State
The Bears, who finished a game behind the Rams, are seeking their eighth MASCAC title while Framingham State won its only championships in 2020 and 2022. BSU lost at Framingham State in the '22 title game.
"We know each other well," said Bears coach Bridgett Casey. "It's somewhat the same personnel (from two years ago) with a couple of different pieces here and there."
This season, BSU won at home, 56-47, on Jan. 6, leading from start to finish to hand Framingham State its only MASCAC loss. The Bears went out to a 15-2 lead early and led by 12 at halftime.
In the rematch on Jan. 31, the Rams squeezed by BSU, 59-58, with a Flannery O'Connor layup with 17 seconds left giving Framingham State the lead for good.
The Bears held a 56-55 lead with less than 40 seconds to go but missed a layup and two foul shots, opening the door for the Rams. BSU missed seven of 19 free throws in the loss.
"We beat them pretty handily here in terms of holding them to 47 points with our defense," said Casey. "If we can do what we do defensively and take advantage of opportunities, we'll do fine. We're going to see how we can adjust and make some tweaks."
When the two teams played for the title in 2022, Framingham State shot 48 percent and received 29 points and 15 rebounds from O'Connor, who was a sophomore.
The Bears trailed by nine points at halftime, but the game got away in the third quarter when they were outscored, 27-17.
Three starters for BSU that day -- Caroline Tripp (Plymouth, Mass.), Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) and Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) -- will be starting for the Bears this year.
Sophia Gaucher (Lakeville, Mass.) will also start after being a reserve two years ago while Arielle Cleveland (Groveland, Mass.) also had playing time against the Rams and is a key reserve this season.
Framingham State, who are 12-0 at home, has won 11 straight games since losing to BSU in early January. The Rams' only other loss this season was in Las Vegas to Trinity of Texas, 83-74, at the d3hoops.com Classic.
To follow all of the action live, click on the links below for video webcasts and Live Stats.
Men's Basketball Webcast | Men's Basketball Live Stats | Women's Basketball Webcast | Women's Basketball Live Stats