Men's Basketball Downs RIC, 96-72

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team cruised to a 96-72 victory over visiting Rhode Island College on Tuesday night at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears improve to 5-0 on the season while the Anchormen fall to 2-5. Bridgewater is now 18-19 all-time versus RIC since the two teams first met back in 1985. The last time the Bears opened the season with five straight wins was 36 years ago when the 1986-87 squad won their first six games.

Five different players scored in double figures for the Bears lead by a game-high 19 points from senior guard Precious Okoh (Brockton, Mass.). Okoh knocked down 7 of 12 field goals, including a pair of three-pointers, and added four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Sophomore guard Quinton Champagne (Wrentham, Mass.) checked in with 12 points and five assists, while junior forward Andrew McKinney (Norfolk, Mass.) notched 14 points, and five rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench. The Bears also received 12 points and four rebounds from sophomore guard Alex Gonzalez (Peabody, Mass.) in 21 minutes off the pine, while senior center Stanley Pierre-Louis (Roxbury, Mass.) chipped in with an efficient ten points on 4 of 5 shooting to go along with four rebounds in eight minutes of action.

Graduate center Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) added eight points, six rebounds, two assists and a game-high four blocked shots for the hosts, and freshman guard Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) contributed nine points, five rebounds, three steals and a game-best seven assists.

The Bears held a two-point lead (21-19) with 10 ½ minutes remaining in the first half but used a 16-4 run to extend the lead to 37-23. Six different plays scored during the key run including four points apiece from Halbleib and Kikuba. Bridgewater would also close out the stanza with a 13-0 spurt, highlighted by five points from Okoh and a pair of three-pointers by McKinney and Gonzalez, to open up a decided 52-29 lead at the break.

Okoh paced the Bears with 12 first-half points, while junior center Ousmane Kourouma (Woonsocket, R.I.) tallied 12 points for the Anchormen.

The second half was much more closely contested with the Bears getting up by as many as 29 points (on two separate occasions) in the stanza and RIC getting no closer than 17 (89-72 with 5:21 remaining).

Bridgewater State finished with a 56-36 advantage in points in the paint as well as a 24-12 edge in points off turnovers. The BSU bench also outscored the RIC reserves, 46-31, led by McKinney, Gonzalez and Pierre-Louis.

Bridgewater shot 48.7% (38-78) for the game. The BSU defense held the Anchormen to 34.2% (27-78) and the Bears also forced 20 turnovers.

Kourouma finished with double-double totals of 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead the way for RIC. Junior forward Mitchel Noresca (East Providence, R.I.) also posted a double-double with 14 points and ten boards, while junior forward Kalu Uga (Hyde Park, Mass.) tallied ten points, six rebounds and three assists.

The Bears are off until Wednesday, November 30th when they travel to UMass Dartmouth to take on the Corsairs at seven o'clock. The Anchormen entertain Mitchell College next Tuesday night also at seven.