Men's Basketball Second Seed in MASCAC Tournament

Buzzards Bay, Mass. - Bridgewater State College has earned the top seed in the 2010 Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championships, which begin on Tuesday, February 23rd with quarterfinal round action and move to semi-final round play on Thursday, February 25th before concluding with the league championship game on Saturday, February 27th.

Bridgewater State and second-seeded Framingham State College earned byes into Thursday's semi-finals and will await the winners of Tuesday's quarterfinal round contests, which will feature third-seeded Salem State College hosting sixth-seeded MCLA in a 7:00 p.m. EST tip-off and fourth-seeded Worcester State College hosting fifth-seeded Fitchburg State College in a contest that begins at 8:00 p.m. EST.

The winner of the Worcester State-Fitchburg State quarterfinal advances to take on Bridgewater State in semi-final round action on Thursday evening in Bridgewater, Mass., while the Salem State-MCLA winner will square off with Framingham State in Thursday's other semi-final match-up in Framingham, Mass., with both games tipping-off at 7:00 p.m. EST. The two semi-final winners will meet for the 2010 MASCAC Championship and the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championships on Saturday, February 27th at the site of the highest remaining seed beginning at a starting time that will be determined following Thursday's semi-final round match-ups.

Bridgewater State captured its second straight MASCAC regular season crown under Head Coach Joe Farroba this winter with a 17-6 regular season mark and an 11-1 league slate, and the Bears are led by junior forwards Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, Mass.) and Judah Jackson (Everett, Mass.), who average 18.2 and 14.8 ppg, respectively, to go with 6.4 rpg each. Framingham State enters Thursday's semi-final round with a six-game winning streak, as Head Coach Don Spellman's Rams stand at 15-9 overall (9-3 in MASCAC action) and are led by senior forward Josue Almodovar (Holyoke, Mass.), who averages 17.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

Salem State posted an 8-4 MASCAC mark and recorded 10 overall victories under Head Coach Chris Harvey, and the Vikings are led by sophomore forward Brian Clark (Deerfield, Mass.), who averages 15.2 ppg and 5.4 rpg to date. Worcester State notched 12 regular season triumphs (five in league play) under Head Coach David Lindberg, and the Lancers are paced by senior forward Maurice Horton (Detroit, Mich.), who leads the league in scoring at 20.7 ppg and ranks second in rebounding at 9.3 rpg.

Fitchburg State posted eight victories overall and three in league action under Head Coach Derek Shell, and the Falcons are led by senior guard Colin London (Worcester, Mass.), who averages 14.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game to date, while MCLA rounds out this year's championship field after collecting nine wins overall and three in MASCAC action under Head Coach Jamie Morrison, as junior center Jon Greenberg (Antwerp, Belgium) paces the Trailblazers at 17.7 ppg and a league-best 12.3 rpg.

Bridgewater State captured the 2009 MASCAC Men's Basketball Championship with an 77-66 victory over Salem State in last year's title contest played at Twohig Gymnasium in Salem, Mass. Salem State has won eight of the last 10 conference tournament titles and captured 15 of the 20 MASCAC crowns overall.

Release courtesy of MASCAC Sports Information.