Men's Basketball Falls to UMass Boston in Home Opener, 86-70

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Junior guards Charles Mitchell (Boston, Mass.) and Michael Boyd (Malden, Mass.) scored 24 points apiece to lead the visiting UMass Boston men's basketball team to an 86-70 victory over Bridgewater State University on Wednesday night at the Tinsley Center. The game marked the home opener for Bridgewater State.

The Beacons remain unbeaten on the season as they improve to 3-0, while the Bears fall to 0-3. UMass is now 20-18 all-time versus BSU.

Mitchell connected on 9 of 17 field goals, including 3-for-8 from behind the arc, and added three rebounds. Boyd went 10-for-17 from the floor, grabbed four rebounds and dished out a team-best five assists.

UMass sophomore center Malik Lorquet (Sharon, Mass.) posted a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 18 rebounds with ten coming off the offensive glass.

Senior forward Rayshon Ward (Fayetteville, N.C.) paced Bridgewater State with 15 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots, while senior guard Ryan Carney (Easton, Mass.) checked in with 15 points, four boards and four assists. Senior forward Dimitri St. Louis (Brockton, Mass.) added 14 points for the Bears, and sophomore forward Jose Monteiro Jr. (Brockton, Mass.) tallied 11 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.

UMass scored the first eight points of the game and led 10-2 four minutes into the contest. The Bears battled their way back and closed to within two, 21-19, on a Carney three-pointer midway through the period. Mitchell rattled off eight straight points, including a pair of three-pointer, to push the Beacons' advantage to ten, 29-19. Later in the period, BSU sophomore guard Admar Jaramillo (Brockton, Mass.) converted a traditional three-point to make it a seven-point game, 38-31, with 2:17 showing on the first-half scoreboard. UMass, however, closed out the stanza with a 7-0 run, highlighted by five points from Boyd, as the visitors took a 45-31 lead into the break.

Mitchell scored 18 points over the first 20 minutes for UMass, while Boyd added 11. Ward paced Bridgewater State with nine first-half points.  The Beacons shot 64.5% (20-31) from the floor in the first half, while the Bears connected on 40.7% (11-27) of their field goal attempts.

Bridgewater closed to within nine points on three separate occasion in the second half, but could not get any closer. St. Louis knocked down a pair of free throws with 5:30 showing on the scoreboard to cut the deficit to 71-62. The Bears, however, made just 1 of 4 free throws on their next two possessions and were unable to recover. UMass answered St. Louis' free throws with a 7-1 run over the next two minutes to take a 78-63 lead and put the game out of reach.

The Beacons shot 53.8% (35-65) for the game, held a 41-23 rebounding advantage, including a 17-8 edge on the offensive glass, and outscored the Bears 50-26 in the paint.

The Bears shot 45.5% (25-55) and went 10-for-21 (47.6%) from three-point range.

Sophomore guard Alan Pettway (Worcester, Mass.) also finished in double-figure scoring for Bridgewater State as he notched 11 points on 3 of 4 shooting from behind the arc.

Senior guard Dasan Cinelli (Boston, Mass.) added 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting to go along with nine rebounds for the Beacons.

In upcoming action, the Bears will entertain Endicott College on Saturday evening at 5:30. The Beacons will host Framingham State University in the 2nd Annual Paula Titus Memorial Tournament on Friday evening at five.

Notes: Prior to the game, the Bears honored Ward who notched his 1,000th career point this past weekend at the Middlebury Tip-Off Classic.