Men's Hoops Falls to Stockton at Greyhound Starters Classic

BETHLEHEM, Penn. -- The Bridgewater State College men's basketball team dropped a 77-68 decision to Richard Stockton College in the semifinals of the 32nd Annual Greyhound Starters Classic hosted by Moravian College.

The Bears (3-4) will take on Misericordia University in the tournament consolation game on Sunday at 1 PM.  Misericordia lost to host Moravian, 81-75, in the other semifinal matchup.  Richard Stockton (7-3) will take on Moravian in the championship game at 5:30.

Junior forward Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, MA) paced Bridgewater State with 23 points and eight rebounds.  Senior guard Santini Lancioni (Runnemede, NJ) led the way for Stockton as he scored 21 points on 8 of 11 shooting and dished out five assists.

Bridgewater jumped out to a 7-3 advantage on a Motta layup and three-pointer sandwiched around a Corey Conner (Providence, RI) layup.  Stockton battled back to take a 14-13 lead and would never trail again.

Stockton got up by as many as 14 points (40-26) in the opening stanza before heading to the lockerroom with a 44-33 lead.

The Ospreys led by 17 points (58-41) with 12:46 remaining in the second half.  The Bears chipped away at the deficit and used a late 7-0 run to pull to within four points, 72-68, with 1:23 left to play.

Bridgewater would not score again, however, as Stockton knocked down 5 of 6 free throws in the final minute to secure the win.

The Bears were outrebounded in the contest by a margin of 37-28.  Bridgewater shot 44% (24-for-54) for the game and connected on 8 of 25 three-point attempts.  The Ospreys were 6-for-12 from behind the arc and shot 48% (27-for-56) from the field.