Bridgewater, Clark Advance to Tip-Off Tournament Title Game

BSC/Lesley Box Score | Clark/Curry Box Score

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - Bridgewater State College and Clark University advanced to the championship game of the 2008 BSC D'Angelo Tip-Off Classic this afternoon at the Tinsley Center in Bridgewater.  The host Bears downed Lesley University, 78-55, while Clark knocked off Curry College, 93-74, in the other semifinal matchup.

Tip-off for the championship game between Bridgewater and Clark will be at 3 PM on Sunday afternoon.  Curry and Lesley will play in the consolation game at 1. 

Bridgewater State (2-0) jumped out to a 15-2 lead through the first seven minutes of play and never looked back.  Lesley closed the gap to as little as eight points (31-23) with 5:43 remaining in the first half but that would be as close as the Lynx would get.  The Bears scored the final six points of the opening stanza and took a 40-26 lead into the intermission.

Lesley (1-2) would close the gap to 13 points (55-42) in the second half, but they were unable to cut into the lead any further.  The final score of 78-55 was also the biggest lead of the game.

Sophomore forward Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, MA) led the Bears with 18 points.  Sophomore guard Judah Jackson (Everett, MA) added 14, while sophomore guard Corey Connor (Providence, RI) came off the bench to score 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

Bridgewater played very well defensively forcing 34 Lesley turnovers while committing just 12.  Senior forward Roland Millien (Stoughton, MA) led all players with six steals, while junior guard Matt McLaughlin (Rochester, MA) added five steals while also dishing out a game-high six assists.

Sophomore center Jesus Trejo (Methuen, MA) had a solid game for the Lynx scoring a game-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting while also pulling down eight rebounds.

In the other semifinal matchup, Clark (2-1) used a 12-2 run midway through the first half to open up a 27-12 lead.  The Cougars led 44-29 at the break and were not seriously threatened the rest of the way as they coasted to the 93-74 victory.

Clark had three players finish in double-figures with senior center Peter Normandin (Westminster, MA) leading the way with 19 points.   Junior forward Mark Alexander (Providence, RI) added 18 points and freshman forward Brian Vayda (Sturbridge, MA) chipped in with 12.

The Cougars attempted 32 three-pointers in the game converting on ten of them.  Clark dominated the boards out-rebounding the Colonels by a margin of 49-37 with 21 of those rebounds coming off the offensive glass.  The Cougars also took care of the ball committing just 12 turnovers.

Freshman forward Daniel Singh (Lawrence, MA) was impressive for Curry as he scored 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting while also pulling down 12 rebounds for the double-double.  Senior guard Quashed Simmons (Paterson, NJ) finished with 22 points to go along with four assists and four rebounds.

Bridgewater will be making its' third straight BSC Tip-Off Classic championship game appearance as the Bears have won each of the first two tournament titles (2004, 2006).