Men's Basketball Drops 100-69 Decision to #4 Cabrini in NCAA Tournament

RADNOR, Pa. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team fell to Cabrini College, 100-69, in the opening round of the 2014 NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday night.

Ranked fourth in the most recent D3hoops.com Poll, the host Cavaliers improve to 26-1 on the season.  Cabrini will host Richard Stockton College in second round action on Saturday night at seven.  Stockton downed Bowdoin College, 72-66, earlier this evening.

Bridgewater State wraps up the 2013-2014 campaign with an overall mark of 16-11.

Cabrini dominated play throughout as the Cavaliers held a 61-37 advantage at the break and led by as many as 40 points (96-56) in the second half. 

Three players finished with more than 20 points for Cabrini.  Junior guard Vinny Walls (Camden, N.J.) paced the Cavaliers with 29 points on 11 of 15 shooting including 4-for-5 from three-point range.  Junior guard Aaron Walton-Moss (Camden, N.J.) posted a double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds to go along with six assists.  Senior forward Fran Rafferty (King of Prussia, Pa.) shot 8 of 12 from the floor and 5-for-9 from behind the arc as he notched 23 points.

The Bears had four players finish in double-figure scoring with senior guard Brendan Monteiro (Brockton, Mass.) leading the way with 14 points. Junior forward Kyle Gibson (Franklin, Mass.) added 13 points, while junior forward Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.) and sophomore guard Tyler DeMelo (Est Freetown, Mass.) added ten points apiece. DeMelo finished 4-for-5 from the floor and 2-for-3 from behind the arc.

Cabrini shot 55% (37-67) from the floor, 48% (12-25) from three-point land and 88% (14-16) at the free throw line.

The Bears connected on 94% (16-17) of their free throw attempts, but shot just 34% (24-71) from the floor and 17% (5-29) from behind the arc.

Notes: With his ten points, Lofton moved into 26th place on the Bears' all-time scoring list as he now has 1,023 points in three seasons at Bridgewater State....Monteiro, who played two seasons at wentworth and two at BSU, finished his collegiate career with 1,154 points.