Gulls Slip Against Bridgewater, 65-56
Jan. 10, 2008
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - Bridgewater State College opened up a 20 point halftime lead and hung on to defeat Endicott College, 65-56, Thursday evening in non-conference men's basketball action from the Tinsley Center in Bridgewater.
With the win, the Bears improve to 5-6 on the season as they have now won three straight games. Endicott slips to 3-7 overall.
Leading 37-17 at the half, the Bears scored the first three points of the second half to build their biggest lead of the game at 40-17. The Gulls rallied and pulled to within nine points midway through the second half and also with 2 ½ minutes remaining in the game, but they would get no closer.
Junior forward Roland Millien (Stoughton, Mass.) paced BSC as he scored 10 points while pulling down 11 rebounds to finish with a double-double. Millien also registered three blocked shots and three steals.
Two other Bears ended the game in double figures. Sophomore center Jim Tourney (Braintree, Mass.) scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and he also grabbed six boards. Senior guard Tom Cuddihy (Scituate, Mass.) also chipped in with 10 points, five assists, four rebounds, and two steals. With his ten points Cuddihy now has 1,283 in his career as he moved into 10th place on the Bears all-time scoring list surpassing Mark Dias who scored 1,282 points from 1982 to 1986.
Sophomore guard Anthony Goss (Boston, Mass.) sparked a 9-0 run for the Bears with a big steal and a breakaway layup after Endicott had pulled to within nine points midway through the half. Goss finished with nine points, five assists, and four rebounds.
After connecting on just 5-of-24 field goal attempts in the first half, Endicott rebounded by shooting 52% (14 for 27) in the second stanza. Senior guard Todd Burton (Lynn, Mass./St. Mary's/Canterbury) was the only Gull in double figures as he finished with 11 points. The Endicott bench scored 24 points in the game and 19 of the team's 39 points in the second half.
Bridgewater forced 28 turnovers and held a 45-34 advantage on the boards with 19 of those rebounds coming off the offensive glass.
Bridgewater State will be back in action on Tuesday, January 15th as the Bears travel to Westfield State College to open up MASCAC play against the Owls. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 PM. Endicott opens The Commonwealth Coast Conference play on Saturday at 3:00 pm as the Gulls travel to Eastern Nazarene College.