Strong Second Half Leads Bridgewater State Past Men’s Basketball

Framingham, Mass. – The Framingham State University men's basketball team was defeated 57-50 this evening by Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action at the Athletic Center.     

With the win, the Bears improve to 8-11 on the year and are now 4-3 in the conference. The loss drops the Rams to 4-16 overall and 1-7 in the MASCAC.

The Rams trailed 13-10 with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half but closed the frame 13-6 run to take a 23-19 edge into the locker room.  Senior Jacek Louisville (Worcester, Mass.) started the spurt with a pair of threes including a bank three as the shot clock expired and junior Tim Mangano (Winchester, Mass.) closed it with a three and a pair of free throws.

The Bears opened the second half with back to back threes from junior Greg Romanko (Mansfield, Mass.) to take the lead.  After trading buckets, the Rams took the lead back (30-29) on a three point play from junior Patrick Gould (Quincy, Mass.) with 14:54 remaining.  The Bears responded with a 14-3 run over the next seven minutes to take the lead for good.  Freshman Ryan Carney fueled the spurt with five points including a long three. 

Bridgewater extended the lead to as many as 13 with 6:52 remaining, but the Rams clawed their way back pulling within five on a Mangano free throw with a minute remaining.  The Rams defense forced a tuenover on the ensuing inbounds play, but the Rams could not capitalize and were forced to foul.  Rocky DeAndrade (Mansfield, Mass.) sank two free throws to seal the win for the Bears.

Louisville led all scorers with a game-high 16 points on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc.  Louisville stuffed the stat sheet with five rebounds, three assists and three steals.  McCarthy chipped in with 11 points, while sophomore Tony Alexandre (Hyde Park, Mass.) added 10 and seven boards.

The Bears were led by 15 points on 5-of-7 from behind the arc for Ramanko, while Carney finished with nine and four rebounds.  Junior Fawaz Mass (Taunton, Mass.) and sophomore Joseph Carty (Natick, Mass.) chipped in eight points apiece.

Both teams resume MASCAC action on Saturday afternoon with the Rams traveling to Westfield State for a 3 p.m. showdown with the Owls and the Bears hosting Fitchburg State at 3 p.m.