BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Junior forward Louis Jennings (Walpole, Mass.) posted a double-double with a career-highs of 27 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Bridgewater State University men's basketball team to a 98-81 victory over visiting Nichols College on Wednesday night at the Tinsley Center.
The game marked the home for the Bears who improved to 3-0 on the young season. The visiting Bison even their record at 1-1 with the setback.
Last season, the Bison earned a 93-83 win over the Bears at the Nichols Athletic Center.
Jennings connected on 12 of 19 goal attempts, including 3-for-7 from behind the arc, and seven of his game-high 13 boards came off the offensive glass. The double-double was the second of Jennings' career.
The Bears also received 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal from sophomore forward Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.); 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists, a steal and two blocked shots from sophomore guard Zach Taylor (Quincy, Mass.); and 11 points, six boards, two steals and a game-best nine assists from junior guard Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.).
Junior guard Javen Flowers-Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) paced Nichols with 25 points, four rebounds and seven assists while senior guard Dominic Mello (Wareham, Mass.) notched 21 points, five rebounds and six assists.
Bridgewater never trailed in the game. The Bears got up by as many as 14 (37-23) points in the first half and took a 49-39 lead into the break.
Campbell notched 12 points in the first half while Jennings tallied 11. Flowers-Smith led all player with 16 first-half points.
Bridgewater went 9-for-16 (56%) from behind the arc over the first 20 minutes.
Nichols got to within six points on four separate occasions in the second half and had a chance each time to pull closer, but three costly turnovers and key BSU offensive rebound stymied the Bison.
Clinging to a 73-67 lead with 8 1/3 minutes left to play, Jennings drained back-to-back three-pointers to put the Bears up by 12 at 79-67. Bridgewater would maintain the double-digit advantage the rest of the way with the final score of 98-81 accounting for the biggest lead of the game.
The Bears shot 46% (40-87) for the game and 45% (13-29) from behind the arc. Bridgewater forced 18 turnovers and held a 53-40 rebounding advantage with a 20-12 edge on the offensive glass which led to a 16-7 differential in second chance points.
The Bison finished with shooting percentages of 43% (33-76) from the floor and 27% (9-34) from three-point range.
The Bears are back in action on Friday evening when they host nationally ranked Tufts University at 5:30. The Jumbos are ranked 13th in the D3hoops.com Preseason Poll. The Bison entertain the University of Southern Maine on Saturday afternoon at two o'clock.