Fitchburg State and Bridgewater State both secured home wins in the MASCAC Men’s Basketball Quarterfinals on Tuesday night. They advance to the semifinal round on Thursday.

#3 Fitchburg State 67, #6 Worcester State 55 Box Score

Courtesy of the Fitchburg State Sports Information Department.

Fitchburg, Mass. –  Senior Jonathan Perez (Lowell, Mass.) poured in a game-high 18 points to lead the Fitchburg State University men's basketball team past the Lancers of Worcester State, 67-55, in the quarterfinals of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) tournament on Tuesday night at Parkinson Gymnasium.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State University 67, Worcester State University 55
Records: Fitchburg State (13-13) | Worcester State (11-15)

How It Happened

The Falcons opened the game with  an offensive rhythm and reeled off nine straight points including a 3-point baskets from junior Andre Ruff (Chicago, Ill.) and ) and a good tip-in from senior Anselm Edegbe (Benin, Nigeria) to hold an 11-3  advantage with 12 minutes to play. The Lancers battled back to notch the game at 15-15 capped by back-to-back treys from junior Cal Howes (Maynard, Mass.) and sophomore Joe Desormier (Granby, Mass.). The Green and Gold answered with an 11-4 run, including five points from freshman Tayjaun McKenzie (Lynn, Mass.) to push the lead to 29-19. Worcester's junior Tyler Dion (Barre, Mass.) tallied the last basket of the frame to make the halftime margin 29-23.

FSU's Perez opened the second half with the rare 4-point play to extend the hosts lead to 33-23. However, the Lancers would re-group reeling off eight straight to cut the deficit to a basket (33-31). Dion opened the streak with a bucket from beyond-the-arc and sophomore Chris Cardoso (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) finished with one from the charity strip for the visitors.

The Falcons countered with a 15-0 run closed out with six points from Perez to give the Falcons a comfortable lead 50-33 with 9:26 to play. A good jumper from the Lancers' Cardoso closed the gap to 49-59 with three minutes remaining. Fitchburg State sealed the victory with free-throws down the stretch for the 62-49 victory.

Inside the Numbers

·         Fitchburg State was led by Perez with a game-best 18 points and seven rebounds, while Ruff added 13 points and 6 caroms. Junior Nicholas Tracy (Indianapolis, In.) added 11 points and seven boards.
 ·         For Worcester State, sophomore Eric Bjorn (Holden, Mass.) posted a team-leading 15 points and eight caroms, while Dion and Cardoso added 12 points apiece.

·         Fitchburg State shot 20-for-59 (33.9%) from the field and (8-of-19) 42.1% from beyond the arc.

·         The Lancers went 20-for-66 (30.3%) overall and (5-of-25) 20% from three point range.

·         Worcester controlled the boards, holding a slim 46-44 margin on the glass.

#4 Bridgewater State 101, #5 Framingham State 84 Box Score

Courtesy of the Bridgewater State Sports Information Department.

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior guard Ryan Carney (Easton, Mass.) scored a team-best 20 points, including the 1,000^th of his career, to lead fourth-seeded Bridgewater State University to a 101-84 victory over #5 Framingham State University in the opening round of the 2019 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday evening at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears (9-17) advance to the tournament semifinal round and will travel to top-seeded Salem State University on Thursday night to take on the Vikings at seven. Bridgewater is now 10-3 all-time against Framingham in the MASCAC Tournament including 8-0 at home. The Rams end the season with an overall record of 6-19.

Carney became the 29th player in BSU men's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. The milestone basket came on his final shot of the day, a three-pointer from the top of the arc with 26 seconds remaining in the game.

BSU freshman guard Admar Jaramillo (Brockton, Mass.) paced the Bears with 19 points, three rebounds, three assists, one blocked shot and a career-best ten steals, while classmate Jose Monteiro Jr. (Brockton, Mass.) came off the bench to score a career-high 18 points on 7 of 8 shooting in 17 minutes of action.

Junior forward Rayshon Ward (Fayetteville, Mass.) and sophomore forward Nick Crocker (Falmouth, Mass.) each recorded double-doubles for the hosts with Ward picking up his 15th of the season. Ward tallied 12 points and ten rebounds to go along with four steals and a career-high eight assists, while Crocker notched ten points and a game-high 13 boards as well as three assists and three blocks.

Junior forward Dimitri St. Louis (Brockton, Mass.) rounded out the Bears' five double-digit point producers as he scored 14 points and added four rebounds and a pair of steals.

The Bears overcame a tremendous individual effort by Framingham senior guard Manny Payton (Fitchburg, Mass.) who poured in a game-high 38 points on 16 of 27 shooting.

With the score knotted at 21-21 at the 11:30 mark of the first half, the Bears went on a 21-4 run over the next six minutes to open up a 42-25 lead. Monteiro Jr. scored eight points during the run including a pair of three-pointers. Framingham answered with a 10-2 run to close the gap to 44-35, but a Monteiro Jr. trifecta with the shot clock winding down on the Bears' final possession of the stanza extended the BSU advantage to 12 (47-35) as the teams headed to the intermission.

Monteiro Jr. paced the Bears with 11 first-half points on 4 of 5 shooting including a trio of three-pointers. Payton led all scorers in the opening stanza with 12 points. Bridgewater shot 54% (19-35) from the floor and 44% (7-16) from behind the arc over the first 20 minutes, while Framingham connected on 45% (15-33) of its field goal attempts but went just 2-for-10 from long range.

After Payton opened the second half scoring with a layup, the Bears reeled off seven straight points to open up a 17-point lead (54-37). A Jaramillo three-pointer started the spurt. A 10-1 Framingham run, highlighted by three layups by Payton, closed the gap to eight, 55-47, with 14:35 remaining. Bridgewater answered with a 12-2 run to take a commanding 18-point lead (67-49). Jaramillo scored five points and Monteiro Jr. notched four during the rally which was capped off by a Ward traditional three-point play.  The Bears got up by as many as 23 points (84-61) in the half and maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the way.

Bridgewater shot 50% (36-72) for the game including 12-for-32 (38%) from three-point land. The Bears also went 17-for-25 (68%) at the free throw line. The BSU defense forced 19 turnovers thanks in large part to 18 steals highlighted by Jaramillo's ten thefts.

Fitchburg shot 47% (35-74) from the floor, 26% (5-19) from behind the arc and 75% (9-12) at the charity stripe.

Senior guard Khaneil Bruce (Cambridge, Mass.), sophomore forward Cameron McCloud-Thomas (Springfield, Mass.) and freshman guard Tomas Donoyan (Belmont, Mass.) added 11 points apiece for the Rams with McCloud-Thomas (ten rebounds) and Bruce (12 rebounds) each posting double-doubles.