Men's Basketball Falls to Becker, 79-66

LEICESTER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team dropped a 79-66 decision to host Becker College on Tuesday night.

Terrance Favors (Boston, Mass.) poured in a team-high 19 points with eight rebounds to lead the host Hawks who improve to 3-3.  Bridgewater falls to 2-5 with the setback.

Both teams exchanged baskets early on, with Becker building a 20-15 advantage sparked by solid shooting. Bridgewater would respond with a 7-0 run to take the lead, a stretch capped off by a jumper by Andrew Groth (Uxbridge, Mass.). The Hawks would answer, however, with a 7-0 run of their own, helped by a three-pointer by Favors with 9:26 remaining in the first half.

With six minutes remaining in the half, Becker's Moody Doherty (Roselle, N.J.) stole the ball in traffic, finishing a Hawk fast-break with a dunk. Seconds later, Doherty would complete a three-point play after being fouled on a layup, putting the Hawks up 36-27. It was all part of an 18-4 Hawk run that helped Becker take a 52-34 lead going into halftime.

Shooting and rebounding were a huge edge for the hosts in the first frame, as Becker shot over 50 percent from the floor with and pulled down 11 offensive rebounds. Rajai Leggett (New Haven, Conn.) finished the first period with 12 points to lead the Hawks.

After giving up an opening three to the Bears to start the second half, the Hawks would quickly build on their first-half momentum. Seconds after a Leggett jumper, the senior finished a fast-break layup to put the Hawks up 56-37, their largest lead of the night.

Bridgewater State would rally, going on an 8-2 run capped off by a three-pointer from Justin Clark (Yarmouth Port, Mass.) to pull the Bears to within 13 at 62-49. With 8:46 left, Anthony Fortes (Providence, R.I.) picked up a steal in the Becker backcourt and laid it in himself to draw Bridgewater State to within nine at 64-55. That would be as close as the Bears would get, however.  A 10-1 run later in gave the Hawks a 77-58 lead with 4:17 remaining, and effectively put the game out of reach.

In addition to leading the Hawks in scoring and rebounding, Favors dished out four assists and shot three-of-five from behind the arc. Leggett finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. Jerome Cohen (Boston, Mass.) added 14 points on seven-of-twelve shooting. Yahmad Roundtree (Waterbury, Conn.) was a monster off the bench, scoring ten points and pulling down seven rebounds in just 16 minutes. Doherty filled out the stat-line with nine points, seven rebounds, a game-high five assists and two blocks. As a team, the Hawks shot over 50 percent from the floor and hit six-of-thirteen three-point attempts.

Corey Ryser (Tewksbury, Mass.) led the Bears with 19 points, shooting five-of-nine from behind the three-point arc. Fortes had a strong overall effort with 13 points, seven rebounds and a team-high four assists. Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.) came off the bench to pull down a game-high 11 rebounds. Shawn Yard (Brockton, Mass.) added eight points and two steals. Miller finished with eight points.

Becker is back in action on Thursday, December 8th, as they travel across town to face the Cougars of Clark University. Bridgewater State will be off until Wednesday, December 28th, when they play the Camels of Connecticut College at the Land of Magic Classic in Daytona Beach, Florida.