Men’s Basketball Split Season Series with Bridgewater State

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Basketball team continued their run of games with MASCAC foes that will play a large role in determining their playoff seeding when they welcomed Bridgewater State to the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium. MCLA's Craig Williams tied his career high with 18 points, while Bridgewater State sported a quartet of double-digit scorers. The Bears won by a score of 89 to 71.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Saturday, February 3, 2024
• Score: Bridgewater State 89, MCLA 71
• Records: Bridgewater State Bears 11-10 (MASCAC 7-2) | MCLA Trailblazers 11-10 (MASCAC 5-4)

HOW IT WENT DOWN

• The game was decided during a 22-8 run by the Bears that began just short of the midpoint in the first half. Jayden Mills drained a three for MCLA that tied the game at 21 all with 11:23 left in the frame. A layup from Bridgewater's Emerson Halbleib with just over ten minutes to go started the run for the visitors, with the momentum finally being broken by an MCLA timeout with just over four minutes on the clock.
• After going into the intermission trailing 54-33, the Trailblazers began the second half hot and cut the deficit to 14 points thanks to a 9-2 run that included seven points by Quentin Gittens. It would be as close as the hosts would get, however, because the Bears then responded with a 12-3 run of their own.
• MCLA was led by a career-high tying 18 points from Craig Williams. Williams had set his career high in the Trailblazers 87-86 win over the Pratt Institute on January 20^th.
• Senior Quentin Gittens was right at Williams' heels with 17 points to go with a game-high seven assists. Gittens also paced MCLA with six rebounds.
• Mills rounded out the Trailblazers' trio of double-digit scorers with 11 points, including a three-for-five showing from deep.
• For Bridgewater State, four of their starters crossed the double-digit threshold, led by a game-high 30 points from Precious Okoh. Zach Taylor (16 points), Dante Kikuba (11 points), and Louis Jennings (10 points) rounded out the quartet.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Field Goals / %: BSU 38-65 / 58.5%, MCLA 27-68 / 39.7%
• 3 Points / %: BSU 7-18 / 38.9%, MCLA 11-33 / 33.3%
• Free Throw / %: BSU 6-6 / 100%, MCLA 6-7 / 85.7%
• Rebounds: BSU 39, MCLA 30
• Second Chance Points: BSU 9, MCLA 10
• Points in the Paint: BSU 52, MCLA 26
• Bench Points: BSU 16, MCLA 29

UP NEXT:

On Wednesday, MCLA will be back in action when they travel to Salem State for a MASCAC matchup with the Vikings at the Twohig Gymnasium. The teams will take the floor for a 7 p.m. tip-off.

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