Men's Basketball Drops 73-67 Decision to Emerson

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team is searching for answers as it hits the semester break.

The Bears have lost six of their past seven games to fall to 3-7, and they have 17 days off before resuming the schedule.

The latest setback came Tuesday night at the Tinsley Center as Emerson College broke a five-game losing streak with a 73-67 victory over BSU.

The Bears were in front by as many as nine points in the first half, but their final lead of the game was produced with 4:02 remaining in the opening half.

BSU made only 40 percent of its shots, including 21 percent from 3-point range, and had 20 turnovers that resulted in 16 Emerson points.

"We're trying to work out some of the kinks, trying to figure it out," said Bears coach Matt McLaughlin. "We're struggling through that process right now. I don't think it's a lack of effort by the guys.

"We're genuinely trying to get on the same page, get on the same wavelength and figure it out. We're all in it together and we're trying to figure it out. It's tough."

Graduate student Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) had 15 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks, two steals and two assists to lead the Bears. The double-double marked Halbleib's team-leading fifth of the season and 17th since transferring to BSU in 2022. Also in double figures was Louis Jennings (Walpole, Mass.) with 10 points to go with five rebounds.

Emerson (3-7) was topped by Guillermo Gasset Ruiz (Malaga, Spain) with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting plus eight rebounds, four steals, three assists and three blocked shots.

Trevor Arico (Ann Arbor, Mich.) scored 17 points and Jacob Armant (Arlington, Texas) added 12.

BSU held a 21-12 lead 10:36 into the game when Steven Morrell (Rochester, Mass.) scored on two straight layups, but the Lions (3-7) turned things around at that point.

Emerson went on a 13-2 run over a span of 3:28 when the Bears missed 3 of 4 shots and turned the ball over three times. A basket by Jennings was all that BSU managed in that stretch.

The Bears recovered to take a brief 27-25 lead, but they were scoreless in the final 3:14 of the half and trailed, 34-30, at the midway point. Twelve turnovers by BSU led to 12 Emerson points in the first 20 minutes as the Bears' offense struggled.

"I think that's part of learning the system," said McLaughlin. "We switched over to more of a passing system. We've been struggling at the 3-point line and we're trying to figure out a more strategic system to get us higher percentage shots.

"I think we're still struggling with the shot selection, and you miss a few and the doubt starts to kick in. We're trying to overcome that right now."

Emerson opened the second half on an 11-4 run, getting three baskets from Arico, for the first double-digit lead of the game at 45-34.

After trailing, 50-38, with 13:08 left, BSU used a 7-2 spurt to close within 52-45 with 10:54 remaining, getting four points from Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) and a 3-pointer from Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.).

But Emerson outscored the Bears, 17-6, to widen its lead to 69-51 with 5:09 to go with Gasset Ruiz scoring eight of the points.

BSU scored eight of the game's final 10 points in the last minute to get the deficit under double digits.

The Bears don't play again until Dec. 30 when they travel to Hartford, Connecticut for the Trinity Holiday Invitational. BSU opens against Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham of New Jersey at 7:30 p.m.

"I think, yes, (the break is good) for the mind, said McLaughlin. "I don't know if it's great for the body. In some cases we're banged up and it'll allow them to recover. I think it's a good thing to allow them to clear their minds, get some space from the game and get away and recharge the batteries."

The Bears open the MASCAC schedule on Jan. 3 with a trip to Salem State after the two non-conference games at the holiday tournament.

McLaughlin and BSU will have several practices during the break as they seek to get on track heading into the conference games.

"I definitely think it's a lot of growing pains and us learning how to grow with each other," said McLaughlin. "I was hoping we'd be past that at this stage by now, but we're not.

"That's just something we've got to keep learning from and be willing to make the adjustments and the corrections and continue to grow together."

Emerson, which is now 2-2 against BSU since 2017, returns to the court on Jan. 2 with a 3 p.m. game at Johnson & Wales.