Monteiro Leads Men's Hoops to 66-62 MASCAC Semifinal Win over Worcester

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior guard Brendan Monteiro (Brockton, Mass.) poured in a game-best 31 points to help propel second-seeded Bridgewater State to a 66-62 triumph over #3 Worcester State in the semifinals of the 2014 MASCAC Men's Basketball Tournament this evening at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears (15-11) move on to the MASCAC Championship Game to take on top-seeded Salem State on Saturday at 1 PM.  Bridgewater is making its fifth appearance in the MASCAC title game in the last six years and ninth overall.

The Lancers, who had won four straight games coming into the contest, end their campaign at 12-14 overall.

Monteiro, who also finished with six boards, did his damage on a 10-for-17 effort from the field and he was a perfect 9-for-9 at the line. Junior forward Kyle Gibson (Franklin, Mass.) also tallied 12 points and four assists while classmate Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.) grabbed a squad-high 10 boards for BSU.

Senior forward Dane Jobst (Athol, Mass.) netted 13 points and corralled a contest-best 14 boards for his 19th double-double in 26 contests.

Junior guard Brendan Rios (Easthampton, Mass.), freshman guard Noris Cuevas-Nova (Amherst, Mass.) and classmate Paul Brooks (Arlington, Mass.) all registered ten points in the setback for the Lancers. Rios also had eight caroms and Jobst added four swipes.

With Bridgewater State up 62-53 and 6:27 on the clock late in the second period, the Lancers made it a 62-60 game just three minutes later with a 7-0 run which was finished off by Cuevas-Nova canning the back end of a two-shot foul.

Monteiro connected for a jumper to make it a four point contest at the 2:55 mark before Jobst sank two buckets at the line to make it a one-possession game with 1:25 showing on the scoreboard (64-62).

The Bears were unable to convert on the ensuing possession, but Worcester did not take advantage of the opportunity as the Lancers were whistled for a traveling violation with 35 ticks left.

Jobst then gave his team a lift with a steal at half court on the ensuing inbounds pass, but sophomore Manny Cabral's (Roslindale, MA) lay-up bid was rejected by Gibson with 25 seconds remaining. Cuevas-Nova had another chance for the visitors in the paint but was unable to convert and Lofton came up with the defensive carom.

Gibson was fouled but was unable to put the game away at the line as he missed the front end of a one-on-one.  However, senior guard Brian Grossman (Duxbury, Mass.) came up with a huge offensive rebound.  Monteiro then sealed the win by calmly sinking a pair of free throws.

After the seventh lead change in a back-and-forth affair to start off the game, the Lancers used an 11-0 run to take a 23-13 lead with 8:58 remaining. WSU continued to hold the hosts in check until sophomore Conor Dunleavy (Winchester, Mass.) broke a scoreless drought of more than six minutes with a jumper in the paint 90 ticks later.

The Blue and Gold held their largest margin in the first half at 30-18 with 4:29 showing on the clock.  The Lancers, however, did not score again in the period. Monteiro sparked a 14-0 BSU surge to close out the stanza as the Bears held a 32-30 advantage at the intermission.  Monteiro scored 11 points during the run including a 7-for-7 performance at the free throw line.

After the break, Cuevas-Nova helped tie up the game by converting a lay-up for the 32-32 game, but then Bridgewater State embarked on a 12-1 spurt to take over a 44-33 advantage with 16:44 left.

BSU maintained their advantage through most of the second period with leads of ten points at the 12:06 mark (55-45) and nine with 6:27 remaining in regulation (53-62).

The Blue and Gold finished shooting 40 percent for the game (26-for-65), but drained only two of their 15 bids from beyond the arc. In comparison, Bridgewater State held a modest 38 percent clip in the contest (23-for-61) while they nearly sank half of their shots from downtown (8-for-17).

The visitors controlled the paint (44-24) and the backboards (49-33) as they used a 17-10 offensive glass margin to lead in second-chance baskets (21-9).

BSU took full advantage of 20 Lancer miscues with a 21-8 lead in points off turnovers. The Bears also had 15 assists for 23 made field goals.