DeAndrade Leads Men's Basketball to 80-68 MASCAC Win Over Worcester State

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Junior guard Rocky DeAndrade (Mansfield, Mass.) scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Bridgewater State University men's basketball team to an 80-68 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over visiting Worcester State University on Wednesday evening at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears improve to 9-8 on the season and 2-2 in the MASCAC, while the Lancers fall to 3-13 overall and 1-3 in conference play.

DeAndrade connected on 8 of 15 field goal attempts including 4-for-7 from three-point range. He also tallied three rebounds, a pair of steals, a blocked shot and a game-high six assists.

Senior forward Greg Romanko (Mansfield, Mass.) added 17 points for the Bears, while junior forward Joseph Carty (Natick, Mass.) recorded his third straight double-double and fifth of the season with 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with four assists and a block. Romanko went 6-for-9 from the floor and knocked down 4 of 6 three-point tries. He also finished with two rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.

Freshman forward Rayshon Ward (Plymouth, Mass.) gave the Bears some quality minutes off the bench as he contributed ten points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots in 16 minutes. Ward was 4-for-5 from the floor and 2-for-2 at the charity stripe.

Senior center Paul Brooks (Arlington, Mass.) paced the visitors with 18 points and ten rebounds, while senior forward Ryan DiBernardo (Springfield, Mass.) added 17 points. For Brooks, the double-double marked his fifth of the season including each of the last four games.

The first half featured three ties and five lead changes. With the scored knotted at 14-14, the Lancers used a 12-4 run to open up a 26-18 lead with just under six minutes remaining in the stanza. Junior guard Corey Gatta (Sturbridge, Mass.) started the run with a traditional three-point play while senior forward Jeremy Bacon (Milford, Mass.) ended it with one of his own.

DeAndrade knocked down a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down and added another trifecta at the 3:47 mark to make it a two-point game, 28-26.

Later in the period, back-to-back three-pointers by Romanko and DeAndrade tied the score at 30-30. Following a stop, senior guard Patrick McGuinness (New City, N.Y.) drove to the hoop for a layup to put the Bears up by two. After another stop, Romanko drained a three-ball in transition with the game clock winding down to give the Bears a 35-30 lead at the break.

DeAndrade led all player with 15 points over the first 20 minutes while Romanko added 11. The Bears went 6-for-12 from behind the arc in the first half.

Bridgewater scored the first eight points of the second half on a Carty layup, Romanko trifecta and Fawaz Mass (Taunton, Mass.) three-point play. All told, the Bears scored 19 straight points over the last two minutes of the first half and first 68 seconds of the second to open up a 13-point advantage, 43-30.

A Carty layup at the 16:32 mark extended the BSU lead to 14 at 50-36.

Worcester answered with a 10-1 run over the next three minutes to cut the deficit to 51-46. Five different players scored for the Lancers during the spurt.

The Bears responded with a 9-1 run of their own highlighted by a DeAndrade three-pointer to go back up by double digits, 60-47. Junior center Mike Wiederkehr (Bremgarten, Switzerland) capped off the run with an easy layup off a terrific feed from DeAndrade.

Down 13 (62-49) with 9:40 remaining, Worcester rallied once again as the Lancers outscored the Bears 12-4 over the next 3 ½ minutes. A three-point field goal by senior guard Aaron Anniballi (Milford, Mass.) capped off the run and pulled the Lancers to within five (66-61) with six minutes left to play.

The Bears lead fluctuated between five and nine points over the next five minutes. Worcester, however, was unable to get any closer. The Lancers went 1-for-6 from the floor and 0-for-4 at the line over the last three minutes.

Bridgewater closed out the game with an 8-2 run to come away with the 80-68 victory.

The Bears shot 52% (30-58) for the game and converted 9 of 19 (47%) three-point attempts. The Lancers connected on just 38% (25-66) of their field goal attempts including 5-for-18 (28%) from long range. Both teams missed their fair share of free throws as Bridgewater went 11-for-16 (69%) at the line, while Worcester made just 13 of 21 (62%) free throw attempts.

The MASCAC schedule continues for both teams on Saturday afternoon at one. The Bears entertain Westfield State University, while the Lancers travel to Framingham State University.