Connor's 25 Points Leads Men's Hoops to 81-71 Triumph over Worcester

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Senior Cory Connor (Providence, R.I.) equaled his season-high with 25 points – 18 coming off of three pointers – to help lead Bridgewater State to an 81-71 triumph this evening over Worcester State in MASCAC men's basketball action at Lancer Gymnasium.

With the win the Bears improve to 15-8 and 6-4 in the conference to tie with MCLA for second-place while the Lancers slip to 6-17 and 4-6 in league play.

Also leading the way for BSU was senior Anthony Fortes (E. Providence, R.I.) who registered 20 points and seven boards while classmate Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, Mass.) and junior Cory Ryser (Tewksbury, Mass.) each added 13 and 11, respectively. Motta also distinguished himself with a contest-best of six helpers and five steals.

Connor also netted 25 points in a win over UMass Boston on January 13. This week Connor has sizzled as he has recorded a 60% clip (15-for-25) from three point land in three victories for the Bears.

Junior Frank Stephenson (Fall River, Mass.) paced the Blue and Gold in the losing effort as he notched totals of 18 points, six rebounds and a trio of steals with a perfect 6-for-6 line at the charity stripe. Senior Dave Douillette (Bridgewater, Mass.) and sophomore Monte Goodwin both equaled 12 points and four boards as third-year Clayton Timas (New Bedford, Mass.) finished with 10 points and six caroms.

The Bears were deadly from downtown as they were a blistering 12-for-22 (55 percent) from beyond the arc. Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field for the game as WSU ended the opening frame connecting for 57 percent (16-for-28).

Worcester State also held leads in rebounds (33-25), offensive boards (12-10) and points in the paint (36-26) while the two squads were even in points off of turnovers (26-26). BSU controlled the transition game (16-6) and made the most of their second chance opportunities on the offensive glass with a 14-10 edge.

With the Lancers on top 59-49 with 11:53 left to play, the Bears used a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to knot the score at 61-61. The Lancers went back up by three on a trey by Stephenson at 7:55, but then Bridgewater State would outscore the hosts 14-6 over the next 6½ minutes of game play for a 75-67 advantage.

Stephenson helped WSU trim the lead back to four with consecutive free throws and a lay-up with 47 seconds left on the clock (75-71), but the Bears would close out the contest by canning six of their last eight attempts from the charity stripe.

Worcester State opened the contest with an early 10-4 lead, but three consecutive three pointers – with two from Motta – put BSU on top 15-10 at the 12:47 mark. Connor would hit a three for the 18-12 advantage before the Lancers stormed back with an 11-0 spurt as they would take over a 23-20 advantage with 8:26 left in the first.

The Lancers led 32-26 with 3:19 remaining in the opening period before Connor jacked up a pair of three pointers to tie the score. But WSU held steady as they ended the frame with a 6-2 run that included an end-to-end buzzer beating layup by junior Joe LaRoche (Braintree, Mass.) for the 38-34 edge at the intermission.

WSU would open up a 10 point lead four minutes into the second half (48-38), but Ryser would help trim the advantage to four with back-to-back three point goals. But then the Blue and Gold would rally and led by as many as 11 points with 12:26 to play (57-46) to set the stage for the Bears' second-half comeback.

The visitors outscored Worcester State 47-33 in the final period of play.

Both teams will return to conference play at home in the next week. Worcester State will entertain Westfield State on Thursday in a make-up contest at 8 PM, while the Bears will entertain Salem State in a key matchup on Tuesday at 7:30.