FITCHBURG, Mass. – The Bridgewater State Bears completed a worthy comeback against the Worcester State University Lancers, after being down by 19 and reigning in with the 69-66 victory at the Fitchburg State University Recreation Center Wednesday evening.
With the win, Bridgewater State improves to 6-10 and 2-2 in the MASCAC, while the Lancers dip to 10-7 and 2-2 in conference play.
Worcester State set the pace when Marquez McKreith-Collins (Springfield, Mass.) scored the first points of the game on a shot beyond the arc. Junior guard, Bilal Shakir (Worcester, Mass.) then went on a run making a layup and a 3-pointer to put the Lancers up 8-4 with 17:39 remaining in the half. Bridgewater State's Fawaz Mass (Taunton, Mass.) kept the Bears in the game as he put up some free throws and a jumper to keep the Bears within two.
With 14:55 remaining in the first half, Worcester State started a 3-point shot continuance, as Manny Cabral (Roslindale, Mass.) made two, and Jamal Mustapha (Worcester, Mass.) made another to put the Lancers up 19-9 with 11:41 remaining. Following Worcester's 10 point lead, the Lancers didn't let the Bears within less than six for the remainder of the half. Worcester went on an 8-0 run with about five minutes remaining, and then closed in the half with a 14 point lead.
After the intermission, Bridgewater State came out with some intensity as Michael Soares (Milford, Mass.) and Mass scored eight unanswered points in the first 2:15 minutes of play. The Bears brought the score within two at 15:18 when Rocky DeAndrade (Mansfield, Mass.) made a 3-point jumper, and then Greg Romanko (Mansfield, Mass.) drained another to keep the game within two.
With 12:43 remaining in regulation, Patrick McGuinness (New City, N.Y.) made a jumper to tie the game at 46. Worcester's Shakir made a jumper to give the Lancers the advantage once again, until Mike Wiederkehr (Bremgarten, Switzerland) returned the favor to tie the game up at 48. Shakir came back with a 3-point shot, though, a technical foul on the Lancers gave the Bears their first lead of the game at 11:34 when Romanko aced a pair of free throws and Wiederkehr made a layup to adjust the score at 52-51 in favor of the Bears.
The teams went back and forth with each other over the last 10 minutes of play. Bridgewater State saw their largest lead of nine with 6:18 remaining when DeAndrade drained a three. Worcester State attempted to close the gap as they went on an 11-3 run to get within one with 2:20 left on the clock.
With 1:34 to go, Mass made a jumper to mark the score 69-66. Each team had three additional possessions throughout the remainder of the game, but neither were able to put the ball in the basket to either seal the deal or tie the game up to pull the game into overtime.
Worcester State shot an overall 40.0% from the field, while the Bears shot 40.9%. Neither team had a great turnover in free throw shooting, as Bridgewater registered a 60 percentage, and the Lancers came in with 55.6.
Leading the Bears offensively was Ryan Carney (Easton, Mass.) with 16 points, shooting 53.8% from the field. Mass went with 13, and DeAndrade and Wiederkehr with 10 apiece. Romanko and McGuinness put up eight apiece. On the boards, DeAndrade and Conor Dunleavy (Winchester, Mass.) paced the team with six each.
A trio of Lancers scored in double digits, including Shakir, Ryan DiBernardo (Springfield, Mass.), and Paul Brooks (Arlington, Mass.). Brooks registered the team's only double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman guard, Alex Santos (Lawrence, Mass.) paced the team with four assists.
Next up, the Lancers will host Framingham State on Saturday (Jan. 23) on the campus of WPI. The Bears will also resume play on Saturday when they will travel to Westfield State for a MASCAC matchup.