By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- There was a special pregame visitor to the Bridgewater State University men's basketball team locker room Wednesday night.

Prior to the Bears' final regular-season home game on Senior Night, BSU assistant coach Brian Ferris was with the team for the first time since suffering traumatic injuries in an accident at home late last year.

He has been rehabilitating at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston but was determined the last couple of months to make enough progress to be on hand for Senior Night.

So it was an emotional scene inside the BSU locker room when Ferris gave the team a fiery speech before it faced Framingham State University at the Tinsley Center.

"I told them back in December that I was going to work my butt off to be here for this night," said Ferris later. "I said the least they could do was work their butts off for 40 minutes in this game."

With Ferris sitting courtside, the Bears put together a strong finish and slipped past the Rams, 74-69, for a season series sweep of Framingham State.

Senior Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.), playing perhaps his final home game, led BSU with 18 points to go with eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Kikuba increased his career scoring total to 1,406 points as he became the 14th player in program history to reach the 1,400-point milestone.

Junior Zach Taylor (Quincy, Mass.) scored 16 points and had five rebounds, two assists and two steals while sophomore Jacob Stull (Norwell, Mass.) had 15 points with three 3-pointers and four rebounds.

The win leaves BSU (8-16) tied with Framingham State (13-11) at 6-7 in fourth place in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference with one game to go.

The Bears had dropped five of their last six games before defeating the Rams for a second time this season.

Ferris, who coached at BSU from 2005-15 and returned to the staff in 2022, has made noticeable progress in recent weeks.

He provided inspiration with the speech to a team that has struggled in the 2025-26 season and is bidding to lock down a spot in next week's MASCAC tournament.

"From the moment he started speaking in the locker room, just the energy he brought," said BSU head coach Matt McLaughlin. "Everyone was locked in. You could see the head nods. The belief all of a sudden skyrocketed. They knew they were playing for something bigger."

The Bears trailed throughout the first half and were down by a many as 11, closing within 32-31 at the break.

BSU was 2-for-15 from 3-point range and shot 37 percent in the opening half but managed to close within one with Taylor and Stull scoring seven each and Kikuba six.

There with nine lead changes and three ties in the final 20 minutes.

Framingham State was up, 48-47, with 9:45 left on a layup by senior Vondre Chase (Watertown, Mass.), but Stull hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 53-48 edge with 8:57 left.

The Rams regained the lead at 59-58 with four minutes left on a layup by junior Fallou Koite (Glendale, Md.), but Kikuba responded with a 3-pointer 11 seconds later to put BSU up for good at 61-59.

After a basket by Taylor made it 63-59, the Rams cut the deficit to two before Kikuba hit another 3-pointer from the corner in front of the BSU bench with 1:49 left for a 66-61 lead.

Three times after that, Framingham State moved within two points, but a layup by junior Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.), two foul shots by Kikuba and two foul shots by Campbell opened the lead back to four on each occasion.

Framingham State had the ball after an offensive rebounds with nine seconds left, trailing by three, but a turnover ended its attempt to tie the game, and Kikuba sealed it with two more free throws.

The Bears have struggled in tight games in the past, but they had the right formula this time.

"It's a breath of fresh air," said McLaughlin. "You can breath. It's a credit to them for getting it done."

Junior Lorenzo Washington (Middletown, N.Y.) led the Rams with 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Chase added 16 points and a game-best 17 rebounds while Koite had 15 points and 11 rebounds and junior Joshua Saint Jean (Lynn, Mass.) scored 11 points with eight rebounds.

Both teams shot below 40 percent (BSU at 38 and Framingham State 34) while the Bears were outrebounded, 57-43.

Prior to the games, the four seniors on the BSU honored in a ceremony on the cour, including Kikuba, Louis Jennings (Walpole, Mass.), Abdoul Bah (Lynn, Mass.) and Aidan Rock (Westport, Mass.).

BSU ends the regular season with a 2 p.m. game at Worcester State on Saturday.

Framingham State will host Anna Maria on Saturday at 2 p.m.