Bridgewater State Too Much for Men’s Basketball

Framingham, Mass. – The Framingham State University men's basketball team started slowly and could not recover as the Rams were defeated 69-55 by Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's basketball action tonight at Framingham's Athletic Center.

With the win, the Bears improve to 11-8 on the year and 6-2 in the conference, while the Rams slip to 8-13 overall and 2-6 in the MASCAC.

The Bears opened the game with a 14-0 run over the first four minutes with senior guard Corey Ryser (Tewksbury, Mass.) accounting for five points including a deep three.  The Bears started the game on fire connecting on 6-of their first-7 shots with a pair of threes, while the Rams started the contest 0-for-2 with five turnovers.

Senior guard Allen Saint-Surin (Brockton, Mass.) finally put the Rams on the board with his floater in the lane with 15:38 left in the first.

Bridgewater State extended their lead to as many as 17 in the first half as they continued their hot shooting connecting on 56% (15-27) of their offerings in the opening stanza.  The Rams closed the half with a 12-4 spurt, cutting the deficit to 35-26 at the break.  Sophomore guard Juan Lopez (Holyoke, Mass.) started the spurt with six points and senior guard Rico DePaolis (Watertown, Mass.) capped it with back-to-back threes.

Despite cooling down from the floor, the Bears maintained the sizable advantage through most of the second half, but the Rams made a push late in the half.  Trailing 55-39 with 7:10 remaining, the Rams rattled off six straight points including a three point play from sophomore Tyrone Figueroa (Revere, Mass.) to cut the Bears lead to 10 (55-45).  Bridgewater State responded and quickly pushed the lead back to 16 to secure the victory.

The Bears were led by the tandem of Anthony Fortes (Providence, RI) and Samuel Johnson (North Chelmsford, Mass.) who scored a game-high 18 points apiece.  Johnson just missed a double double as he grabbed a game-best nine boards.  Ryser finished the game with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from beyond the arc.

Freshman forward Andre Santana (Worcester, Mass.) led the Rams with 15 points and seven boards, while DePaolis was the only other Ram to record double figures with 10 including a pair from behind the arc.  Saint-Surin finished the game with nine points, while Lopez finished with eight.

The Bears shot 51% from the floor for the game (27-53) and 60% from behind the arc, while the Rams connected on 44% of their offerings (22-50) including just 33% from behind the arc.

The Rams return to action on Saturday when they travel to Fitchburg State at 3 p.m., while the Bears travel to Westfield State on Saturday at 3 p.m.