Men's Basketball Falls to UMass Boston, 79-48

BOSTON, Mass. – Senior guard Charles Mitchell (Boston, Mass.) scored a game-high 27 points to lead the UMass Boston men's basketball team to a 79-48 victory over visiting Bridgewater State University on Wednesday night at the Clark Athletic Center.

The Beacons improve to 2-1 on the season, while the visiting Bears fall to 0-4.

Five Beacons' scored in double-figures led by Mitchell. Sophomore guard Bobby Joy (Harwich, Mass.) added 13 points for the hosts, while freshman guard Stephen DiGregorio (Marlborough, Mass.) checked in with 11 points and eight rebounds, and freshman guard Malik Brooms (Roxbury, Mass.) notched ten points and six boards. Senior guard Charlie Mitchell (Boston, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with ten points, four rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Sophomore forward Andrew McKinney (Norfolk, Mass.) paced Bridgewater State with a career-high 16 points in 20 minutes of action, while freshman guard Quinton Champagne (Wrentham, Mass.) recorded a career-high 14 points to go along with three rebounds.

UMass led 30-28 after a tightly-contested first half. Charles Mitchell tallied 16 points over the first 20 minutes while McKinney led Bridgewater State with ten.

The score remained close for the first five minutes of the second half. A layup by Champagne with 15:14 left to play closed the gap to 35-32. UMass then went on a 17-2 run over the next 3 ½ minutes to take control of the game. Joy scored ten points during the game-changing spurt.

The Beacons continued to pull away and got up by as many as 31 points including the final score of 79-48.

UMass shot 44% (31-71) from the floor for the game and held the Bears to 32% (16-50) shooting. Both teams struggled at the free throw line as the Beacons converted 11 of 20 (55%) at the charity stripe and the Bears went 12-for-27 (44%). The UMass defense forced 24 turnovers which led to a 31-4 advantage in points off turnovers.  The Beacons also finished with a 40-20 edge in points in the paint.

Bridgewater State is back in action on Friday and Saturday when the Bears host the BSU Cave Classic at the Tinsley Center. The Bears take on Eastern Nazarene College on Friday evening at 5:30. The Beacons travel to Colby-Sawyer College on Saturday night for a 7:30 game with the Chargers.