Late Push Takes Bridgewater State Past Men's Basketball, 79-68

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Basketball team took to the roads this afternoon for a matinee MASCAC matchup with the Bridgewater State Bears at the Adrian Tinsley Center. Quentin Gittens paced the Trailblazers with 24 points but was outdone by the Bears' Josh Campbell's 26-point effort.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Saturday, February 8, 2025
• Score: MCLA 68, Bridgewater 79
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 4-17 (MASCAC 2-7) | Bridgewater State University Bears 9-13 (MASCAC 4-5)

HOW IT WENT DOWN

• The game was give and take early, with the hosts eventually taking a moderate lead at 19-10 shortly after the midpoint of the first half. The Trailblazers began to fight back to take the lead 29-28 after a pair of made free throws from senior forward Joshua Bissaillon (East Greenbush, NY). The Bears would again find a small lead before a three by junior guard Craig Williams (Dover, DE) sent the teams into the intermission with the hosts leading 37-35
• The second half looked to be a repeat of the first as Bridgewater raced out and built a moderate lead, being up as many as 11 points with less than four minutes into the second half. Again, MCLA stormed back taking a 53-52 lead off a layup by Gittens with just under 13 minutes remaining.
• Following another eight minutes of back and forth, the game was tied at 65 with four and a half minutes remaining. The Bears closed out the game with a 14-3 run to secure the win.
• Bridgewater's Josh Campbell led all scorers with 26 points to lead a quartet of Bears with double-digit point totals. He was joined by Dante Kikuba (22), Sam Sweeney (15), and Noah Downing. Abdoul Bah had a game-high nine rebounds for the hosts.
• Gittens paced the Trailblazers with 24 points and seven rebounds. Graduate student forward Jackson Brown (Latham, NY) contributed 12 points, while junior forward Jayden Mills (Bronx, NY) had a team-high eight rebounds

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Field Goals / %: MCLA 20-63 / 31.7%, Bridgewater 25-58 / 43.1%
• 3 Points / %: MCLA 9-30 / 30%, Bridgewater 8-21 / 38.1%
• Free Throw / %: MCLA 19-26 / 73.1%, Bridgewater 21-30 / 70%
• Rebounds: MCLA 44, Bridgewater 44
• Points off Turnovers: MCLA 8, Bridgewater 8
• Second Chance Points: MCLA 10, Bridgewater 19
• Points in the Paint: MCLA 22, Bridgewater 26
• Bench Points: MCLA 13, Bridgewater 29

UP NEXT:

On Wednesday, MCLA will be back in action when it plays host to Salem State in the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium for a MASCAC matchup with the Vikings. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.

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