Lofton Nets Career-High 31 Points in 80-68 Setback to Salem State

SALEM, Mass. – Despite a career-high 31 points from Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.), the visiting Bridgewater State University Bears dropped an 80-68 decision to Salem State University in MASCAC men's basketball action on Tuesday night at Twohig Gymnasium.

Salem State improves to 15-8 on the season with the win and 8-3 in the MASCAC as the Vikings clinch a share of the conference regular season title.  The Bears finished the regular season at 14-11 overall and 8-4 in MASCAC play.  Bridgewater could still earn a share of the conference crown with a loss by Salem on Saturday.  The Vikings travel to MCLA to take on the Trailblazers at two.

Lofton, who now has 987 points in his career, finished with a double-double as he also pulled down a game-best 16 rebounds including five coming off the offensive glass. Lofton connected on 14 of 21 field goals attempts and added two blocked shots.

Brendan Monteiro (Brockton, Mass.) and Justin Clark (Yarmouth Port, Mass.) added 15 points apiece for the Bears.  They combined to shoot 8-for-12 from three-point range.

The Vikings were proficient in the first half, scoring on their first five possessions while shooting 66.7% from the field. Andrew White (Medford, Mass.) scored 11 points during the half. Anthony Hodges (Worcester, Mass.) gave the Vikings an early eight-point lead with a three-pointer from the top of the key.

Lofton carried the weight of the BSU offense, scoring 19 first half points while grabbing seven rebounds. He cut Salem State's lead to just five, 33-28, with a put-back layup with 5:37 left.  Clark contributed with six points on 2-for-2 shooting from three-point range.

Nicholas Grassa (Lynn, Mass.) led the Vikings on a late 8-2 run, scoring six points in the final minutes to give Salem State a 47-34 lead at the intermission.

Down 15 after White opened the second half with a layup, Bridgewater State used an 8-0 run to cut the deficit highlighted by a pair of Monteiro trifectas and capped off by a Lofton dunk. The Vikings then answered with a 7-0 run of their own to increase the advantage to 56-42 with 15:59 left to play.

The Bears pulled to within nine twice on a mid-range jumper from Tyler DeMelo (East Freetown, Mass.) at the 11:42 mark and a Lofton layup at 10:56.  That, however, would be as close as the visitors would get the rest of the way.  A fast break layup from White gave the Vikings their largest lead, a 16-point margin (70-54) with 03:22 left.  Salem then coasted to the 80-68 win, highlighted by a breakaway dunk by White.

White finished with 21 points, three assists and four rebounds for the Vikings. Bryan Ortiz (Salem, Mass.) added 15 points while Grassa scored 13 and Hodges 11 off the bench.

Lofton, Monteiro and Clark combined for 61 of the Bears' 68 points.