Men's Basketball Picked to Win MASCAC Title in 2010-2011

2010-2011 MASCAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University Bears are the preseason pick to win the 2010-2011 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men’s Basketball championship in a vote of the league’s coaches.

Bridgewater State, which captured both the conference regular season and tournament titles each of the past two seasons, claimed five first place votes to amass 47 points in taking the top spot in the poll.  Salem State is second with a total of 43 points including two first place votes, while Westfield State is third in the poll with 31 points.

Under the guidance of 19-year head coach Joe Farroba (254-222, .534), Bridgewater is coming off back-to-back NCAA Division III Tournament appearances for the first time in program history and will look to make it three in a row in 2010-2011.

The Bears are led by their senior tandem of guard Judah Jackson (Everett, Mass.) and forward Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, Mass.).  The duo has combined to score 2,079 points since arriving at Bridgewater State in 2007.  Jackson notched his 1,000^th career point last season and currently has 1,113 in his career.  Motta is up to 966 points as he is trying to become the 26th player in program history to reach the millennium milestone.

Last season Motta averaged 18.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.9 steals in 27 games on his way to being named the MASCAC Player of the Year.  Motta was also a second team selection on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division III All-Northeast Region Team, the D3hoops.com All-Northeast Region Team and the ECAC Division III All-New England Team.

Jackson, who is currently 21st on the Bears’ all-time scoring list, posted per game figures of 14.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.8 steals a season ago as he joined Motta on the All-MASCAC Team.

Also returning to the starting lineup is senior guard Corey Connor (Providence, R.I.).  Last year, Connor averaged 9.7 points while connecting on 36% (50-for-141) of his three-point field goal attempts.  In two seasons at BSU, he has knocked down 108 three-pointers.

Junior guard Corey Ryser (Tewksbury, Mass.) and senior center Samuel Johnson (North Chelmsford, Mass.) are both expected to crack the Bears’ starting lineup.  Ryser will take over the starting point guard duties with the loss of All-MASCAC backcourt standout Matt McLaughlin to graduation.

Ryser averaged 4.9 points per game in 2009-2010 and shot 37% (25-for-67) from behind the arc.  Johnson shot 58% (19-for-33) from the floor in limited minutes last season.

Sophomore transfer guard Anthony Fortes (East Providence, R.I.) will add a great deal of depth to the BSU lineup.  As a freshman at Rhode Island College in 2007-2008, Fortes averaged 7.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in 27 games while shooting 71% (41-for-58) from the free throw line as he helped the Anchormen capture the Little East Conference championship and advance to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Bridgewater State opened the 2010-2011 campaign with a convincing 95-64 victory over Western New England College at the Tinsley Center on Tuesday night.  The Bears head to Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania on Friday and Saturday for the Pepsi/Weis Markets Tip-Off Tournament.  BSU will take on King’s College on Friday at 6:00 PM.