College Basketball: Bridgewater State Men Eliminated by Salem State

By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- An inconsistent season came to an end for the Bridgewater State University men’s basketball team Tuesday night.

For the first time since 2013, the Bears failed to win a game in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament, eliminated in the quarterfinal round.

Fourth-seeded Bridgewater State was stopped by fifth-seeded Salem State University, 89-78, at the Tinsley Center, losing to a team that is now just 6-20.

The Bears (10-15) finished below .500 for a second year in a row, the first time that’s happened since 2001-02 and 2002-03.

“This team tried to cheat the game by the way they practiced sometimes,” said BSU coach Joe Farroba. “If you cheat the game, it just doesn’t work. You’ve got to put the work in and the effort. I don’t think we really got that from them enough.”

The Bears had won two games against Salem State in the regular season, but the Vikings prevailed when it counted the most. Salem State, which endured a 14-game losing streak this season, is headed to top-seeded Westfield State for the semifinal round on Thursday.

BSU never led by more than four points and was playing catch up for nearly the entire game.

The Bears’ last lead of the first half was 13-12, and Salem State was in front, 46-39, at halftime.

BSU went back in front, 64-63, with 11:07 remaining in the game on a 3-pointer by Alan Pettway, but the Bears next field goal came with 4:27 to go from David Laine.

After Pettway’s shot, the Bears missed five of six free throws in less than two minutes, and instead of opening a lead, they found themselves in a 65-65 tie.

“In a game of this magnitude,” said Farroba, “that can’t happen.”

It was that kind of night for Bridgewater State, which was hit with a 10-1 run after the 3-pointer by Pettway and the Vikings were in control the rest of the way.

Ryan Carney of Easton, in his final game, scored 30 points with eight rebounds. He had 21 points in the first half and had nine foul shots in the second half, going 0 for 3 from the field as Salem State’s defense zeroed in on the Oliver Ames High graduate.

“I give them credit,” said Farroba. “They had a little bit of a game plan, a 1-3-1 (zone) and they were very concentrated on Carney. That made it tough on him. He had to do it with some pressure.

“He’s a great offensive player. He’s great going downhill, great with the three. It’s going to be tough replacing those points.”

Carney finishes his career sixth on BSU’s all-time scoring list with 1,551 points.

Dimitri St. Louis of Brockton, also in his last game, had 15 points, four rebounds and three steals, and senior Rayshon Ward had nine points and five rebounds before fouling out.

Salem State was led by Hakeem Animashaun, who scored 33 points with no 3-pointers and grabbed 11 rebounds.

“He’s probably the best player in our league,” said Farroba. “He’s tough to guard.″

The Vikings also held a 25-4 edge in bench points with Patrick Bulger making 5 of 6 shots and scoring 15 points in 22 minutes.

“That’s game, set and match,” said Farroba of the bench differential.

The Bridgewater State defense was lacking from start to finish, allowing the Vikings to make 53 percent of their shots.

“We just didn’t do it,” said Farroba. “We just didn’t play well enough to win the game. The big thing was we gave up 89 points. We didn’t defend them. They shot 53 percent from the floor. That’s tremendous.”

The Bears were without key reserve Jose Monteiro Jr. of Brockton, who averages 26 minutes but was sidelined with a sprained ankle.