Fortes Reaches 1,000-Point Milestone as Men's Hoops Downs Framingham, 74-65

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior forward Anthony Fortes (Providence, R.I.) scored a career-high 29 points, including the 1,000th of his career, to lead the Bridgewater State University men's basketball team to a 74-65 victory over visiting Framingham State University in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action on Tuesday night at the Tinsley Center.

The host Bears improve to 9-10 on the season and even their MASCAC record at 4-4.  The Rams slide to 8-13 overall and 1-7 in conference play.

Fortes, who finished 12-for-17 from the floor including 3 of 6 from behind the arc, reached the milestone with a three-pointer to open the second half which gave Bridgewater a 38-17 advantage.  The Bears would get up by as many as 23 in the final stanza and led 52-32 with 11:25 remaining.

Framingham began to chip away at the lead, using a 10-2 spurt later in the half, capped off by a traditional three-point play by senior guard Tyrone Figueroa (Revere, Mass.), to cut the deficit to eight points at 58-50 with 5:52 left on the clock.  A pair of Joseph McCabe (Canton, Mass.) free throws at the 3:07 mark pulled the Rams to within six (63-57), but the Bears responded over the next 35 seconds with a pair of foul shots from sophomore guard Justin Clark (Yarmouth Port, Mass.) followed by a driving layup by Fortes to push the lead back to ten (67-57).  The Rams would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way as Bridgewater knocked down 5 of 6 from the charity stripe over the final two minutes to secure the victory.

BSU sophomore forward Michael Lofton (Providence, R.I.) added 15 points for the Bears to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds as he finished with a double-double.  Lofton also notched five assists and a pair of steals.  Senior guard Shawn Yard (Brockton, Mass.) chipped in with ten points, a game-high nine assists and five steals.

Figueroa led the way for Framingham as he scored 20 points on 7 of 14 shooting, including 3-for-5 from three-point range.  The Rams, whose bench outscored the BSU reserves by a margin of 29-7, also received nine and eight points, respectively off the bench from junior forward Adeyemi Ajao (Randolph, Mass.) and freshman guard Justin Bryan (Red Oak, Texas).  Framingham also held a 48-33 rebounding advantage with a 20-9 edge off the offensive glass led by sophomore forward Patrick Cuff (Medway, Mass.) who pulled down ten boards (five offensive).

The Bears shot 47.5% (28-59) from the floor for the game, but struggled at the free throw line making just 13 of 22 (59.1%) at the charity stripe.  The Rams connected on 36.8% (25-68) of their field goal attempts and finished 12-for-15 (80%) at the line.  Framingham turned the ball over 21 times thanks in large part to 15 BSU steals, while Bridgewater committed 15 miscues.  Points off turnovers, however, were even at 21 apiece.

In upcoming action, the Bears travel to MASCAC foe Westfield State University on Saturday afternoon for a three o'clock game with the Owls.  The Rams entertain conference rival Fitchburg State University also on Saturday at three.

Notes: Fortes, who transferred to Bridgewater State after playing one season at Rhode Island College, has recorded 804 of his 1,015 career points in a BSU uniform...The win marked the 297th career coaching victory for BSU skipper, Joe Farroba...In 21 seasons as head coach of the Bears, Farroba has compiled a record of 297-254 (.539) as he is the all-time winningest coach in BSU men's basketball history.