Bridgewater, Mass. - Junior forward Nicholas Motta's
(Fairhaven, Mass.) jumper with 2.9 seconds left lifted the
Bridgewater State College Bear men's basketball team to a 72-70
come-from-behind victory over the visiting Trinity College Bantams
this evening at the Tinsley Center. The Bears, winners of six
straight games, improve to 9-5, while Trinity falls to 7-7 with its
first loss in three games.
Bridgewater State trailed by ten points at 59-49 with 6:56
remaining in the second half. The Bears chipped away at the
deficit and pulled to within three at 68-65 on an Anthony
Goss (Boston, Mass.) put-back of an offensive rebound at
the 2:14 mark. A jumper by Trinity sophomore guard
Salah Abdo (Chelsea, Mass.) increased the Bantams'
advantage to five at 70-65, but Bridgewater State senior guard
Matt McLaughlin (Rochester, Mass.) answered with a
three-point play on a driving layup and the ensuing foul
shot. After a stop on the defensive end, junior forward
Judah Jackson (Everett, Mass.) grabbed the long
rebound and drove straight to the hoop for a tough layup to tie the
game up at 70 with 48 seconds remaining. Motta then forced a
turnover with 17 seconds left and the Bears quickly called a
timeout. With the clock winding down, McLaughlin dished to
Motta who knocked down the game-winning left-elbow jumper from just
inside the three-point line.
Motta finished with 20 points on 10 of 12 shooting. He also
tallied three rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Jackson led all players with 21 points to go along with eight
boards and two assists. McLaughlin notched seven points as he
was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor and 1-for-1 at the free throw
line. He also dished out a game-high seven assists and
registered four steals. As a team the Bears shot 58
percent from the field, including a 19-for-28 (68%)
performance in the second half. Bridgewater also forced 18
Trinity turnovers while committing just nine.
The Bantams were led by junior forward Luke MacDougall
(Baldwinsville, N.Y.) who scored 17 points on 6-for-10
shooting. He also grabbed eight boards to go along with three
assists and three steals. MacDougall connected on 3 of 5
three-point field goals. Abdo finished with ten points, four
assists and two steals, while sophomore forward Jon Pike
(Exeter, N.H.) added 13 points, eight rebounds and two
steals. The Bantams shot 53% from the field and were 8-for-18
from three-point range. Trinity also outrebounded the Bears
by a margin of 32-24 including a 10-4 advantage on the offensive
glass. Trinity missed four free throws in the last five
minutes including the front end of a one-on-one twice.
box
score