Men's Basketball Comeback Bid Falls Short in 80-76 Setback to MCLA

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team was handed its first Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference loss on Wednesday night.

After opening the conference schedule with back-to-back wins, the Bears fell to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 80-76, at the Tinsley Center.

BSU (6-9, 2-1 in the MASCAC) had trailed by 13 points with less than six minutes remaining and cut the deficit to just two points in the final minute.

But the Trailblazers (2-1, 7-7) grabbed a key offensive rebound that prevented the Bears from attempting a game-tying or go-ahead shot in the final seconds.

BSU had closed to 78-76 when Precious Okoh (Brockton, Mass.) hit a 3-pointer with 36 seconds remaining. MCLA then missed a 3-pointer with seven seconds left and the shot clock winding down, but the Trailblazers' JoJo Garcia (Henderson, Nev.) pulled down the rebound and made two clinching free throws.

"Credit to the guys. We didn't give up," said BSU coach Matt McLaughlin. "They put us in that situation (to have a chance0. We would have had plenty of time. I thought if we got that rebound, we go down and score.

"We just never give up. That's a credit to them. We preach that. We always talk about how it's hard to beat a team that never gives up. That's what we try to sustain and pride ourselves on."

Zach Taylor (Quincy, Mass.) led BSU with 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting and had a career-high nine rebounds.

Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) added 15 points and seven assists while Okoh and Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) scored 13 points and had five rebounds apiece off the bench.

MCLA was keyed by Quentin Gittens (Pittsfield, Mass.), who made 13 of 22 shots for 31 points to go with 15 rebounds and five assists.

Kumar Lewis (East Elmhurst, N.Y.) and Jaxen Potter (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) had 11 points each with Potter grabbing eight rebounds.

The Bears had scored 96 and 109 points in their first two MASCAC games against Salem State and Framingham State. But BSU hit dry spells against MCLA, falling behind, 38-32, at halftime.

"We definitely went dry a little bit," said McLaughlin. "We didn't make shots. I thought we got some good looks, just didn't knock them down. We pride ourselves on offensive rebounds and we didn't get offensive rebounds (seven), so we didn't give ourselves second-chance opportunities."

Gittens, a senior, had 16 of his points by halftime when MCLA led by as many as seven and there were seven lead changes and five ties.

A layup by Okoh gave BSU a 32-31 lead with 3:11 to go in the half, but the Trailblazers scored the final seven points, five of them by Garcia, to take the six-point edge at the break.

MCLA took its first double-digit lead at 52-42 with 14:40 remaining on a Lewis' 3-pointer. A Gittens' layup with 6:28 made it 67-54, and the Bears faced a 76-65 deficit with three minutes to go after Gittens hit a pair of foul shots.

Taylor scored five points and Kikuba made a free throw to get BSU within 78-71 with 1:41 to play. After a pair of MCLA turnovers, Kikuba made two foul shots with a minute left and following another turnover, Okoh hit his 3-pointer to pull the Bears within 78-76.

MCLA worked the clock down to seven seconds, but after the missed 3-pointer, BSU was unable to grab the rebound and fell just short of pulling off a comeback.

The Bears missed some critical free throws down the stretch as they went 4-for-7 from the stripe over the final 3:43.

"It's the MASCAC. You've got to earn it," said McLaughlin. "I don't care what the record is. You have to show up and go take it. They're just a tough team. They knock shots down. When we did collapse on (Gittens), he found an open shooter and they knocked shots down. They did a nice job."

BSU will travel to Worcester State for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday while MCLA is home to face Salem State on Saturday afternoon.