Kikuba Lead Men's Basketball to 101-94 MASCAC Win Over MCLA

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Freshman guard Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) scored a career-high 31 points and came within two steals of a triple-double to lead the Bridgewater State University men's basketball team to a 101-94 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over visiting MCLA on Wednesday evening at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears improve to 14-5 on the season and 4-2 in the MASCAC with their third straight win, while the Trailblazers fall to 6-10 overall and 2-4 in conference play. Bridgewater is 33-7 versus MCLA over the last 20 seasons.

Kikuba connected on 11 of 22 field goals, including 4-for-5 from behind the arc. He also dished out a game-high ten assists for his third double-double of the season and recorded a game-best eight steals to go along with four rebounds.

BSU graduate center Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) registered his team-leading ninth double-double for the season with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds (four offensive). Halbleib added three steals and a blocked shot.

The Bears also received 14 points and four rebounds from freshman forward Louis Jennings (Walpole, Mass.), as well as 14 points, two rebounds and a steal from junior guard Justin Parsons (Portsmouth, R.I.). Jennings knocked down 3 of 4 three-point field goals while Parsons went 2-for-5 from behind the arc and a perfect 4-for-4 at the free throw line.

Graduate guard Noah Yearsley (Averill Park, N.Y.) paced MCLA with 24 points, five rebounds, six assists, two steals and four blocked shots. Sophomore guard JoJo Garcia (Henderson, Nev.) contributed 20 points, five rebounds and two assists in 27 minutes off the bench for the Trailblazers, while sophomore guard Korey Greenland (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) checked in with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Junior forward Mamadou Diallo (Brooklyn, N.Y.) rounded out the double-digit point producers with 11 points as well as eight rebounds (six offensive), two assists and two blocks.

The Bears used a 19-0 run late in the first half to turn a one-point game (32-31) into a 20-point BSU lead (51-31). The Bears connected for five three-point plays during the game-changing spurt including a pair of trifectas from Kikuba and two from Jennings (one traditional) as well as five points from Champagne. Yearsley scored the final five points of the stanza as the Trailblazers capitalized on a pair of BSU turnovers over the last 15 seconds to cut the deficit to 51-36 at the break.

Kikuba led all players with 13 first-half point. Yearsley paced MCLA with seven.

The Bears shot 45.5% (20-44) from the floor in the first half, including 7-for-13 (53.8%) from behind the arc, and went 4-for-4 at the free throw line. The Trailblazers connected on 40.6% (13-32) of their first-half field goal attempts but went just 3-for-18 (16.7%) from behind the arc and 7-for-15 (46.7%) at the charity stripe.

MCLA carried the momentum into the second half outscoring the Bears 27-13 over the first 8 ½ minutes. A three-pointer by Yearsley with 11:49 remaining cut the deficit to one (64-63). The remainder of the game was tightly contested with the Bridgewater lead fluctuating between one and eight points until the clock ticked down to four minutes.  Clinging to a two-point advantage (83-81), the Bears used an 11-0 run jumpstarted by a Kikuba trifecta to take control of the contest. The Trailblazers got as close as five points (94-89) with just 28 seconds left to play, but the Bears went 7-for-8 at the free throw line over the final 20 seconds to hold come away with the 101-94 win.

Bridgewater shot 45.7% (37-81) for the game, 40% (10-25) from three-point range and 81% (17-21) at the free throw line. The Bears held the edge in points in the paint (50-42) and points off turnovers (28-25).

MCLA finished with shooting percentage of 45.9% (34-74) from the floor and 29.7% (11-37) from behind the arc. The Trailblazers struggled mightily at the charity stripe converting just 15 of 30 free throw attempts.

The MASCAC schedule continues for both teams on Saturday at noon. The Bears entertain Framingham State University, while the Trailblazers travel to Westfield State University.