Men's Basketball Downs MCLA, 88-54, on Senior Day

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team cruised to an 88-54 "Senior Day" victory over visiting MCLA in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) contest on Saturday afternoon at the Tinsley Center.

All eleven players scored for the Bears who improve to 14-11 on the season and 7-5 in the MASCAC. Seeded third in next week's MASCAC Tournament, Bridgewater will host a first round game on Tuesday evening at 5:30 against #6 Framingham State University. MCLA ends the season with an overall record of 2-22 (0-12 MASCAC).

Four players finished in double figure scoring for the Bears with senior forward Greg Romanko (Mansfield, Mass.) and junior guard Rocky DeAndrade (Mansfield, Mass.) leading the way with 12 points apiece. Romanko connected on 4 of 6 three-point field goals, while DeAndrade filled the stat sheet with four rebounds, six assists and five steals.

Senior guard Fawaz Mass (Taunton, Mass.) added ten points, five rebounds and three steals for the Bears, and freshman forward Rayshon Ward (Plymouth, Mass.) contributing ten points on 4 of 6 shooting in 16 minutes off the bench.

BSU senior guard Patrick McGuinness (New City, N.Y.) checked in with eight points on 3 of 4 shooting to go along with four assists and a pair of steals, while senior forward Michael Soares (Milford, Mass.) tallied nine points and five boards.

The Bears opened the game with an 11-2 run (with all five starters scoring) and held a 14-point lead (24-10) midway through the stanza. Another 11-2 run later in the period, highlighted by a pair of Romanko three-pointers, extended the BSU advantage to 35-17 with roughly five minutes remaining. Bridgewater would ultimately take a 42-27 lead into the break.

Romanko paced the hosts with nine points over the first 20 minutes as he connected on 3 of 5 three-pointers. Junior guard Keiland Cross (Pittsfield, Mass.) led the way for the visiting Trailblazers with nine first half points.

The Bears outscored the Trailblazers 21-5 over the first six minutes off the second half to put the game well out of reach. The final score of 88-54 proved to be the largest lead of the game.

Cross finished with double-double totals of 14 points and 13 rebounds to pace the visitors. He also added four assists and five steals.

Bridgewater shot 52% (34-65) for the game including 8-for-16 (50%) from behind the arc. The Bears recorded 19 steals and forced 31 turnovers as they held a 35-13 advantage in points off turnovers.

BSU's bench also outscored the MCLA reserves 37-13 led by Ward and senior guard Keyon Armstrong (Brockton, Mass.). Armstrong notched nine points to go along with five rebounds and a pair of steals in 18 minutes.

The Trailblazers connected on just 36% (18-50) of their field goal attempts.

Romanko, Mass, McGuinness, Soares and Armstrong were honored prior to the game in the Bears' traditional Senior Day festivities.