NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- Led by senior center Samuel Johnson's (North Chelmsford, Mass.) 23 points and 14 rebounds, the third seeded Bridgewater State Bears defeated second seeded MCLA, 88-80, in MASCAC Men's Basketball Tournament semifinal action on Thursday night in North Adams.
With the win, the Bears (18-9) will move on to Saturday's MASCAC championship game, looking to defend their title from a year ago. Bridgewater will take on top-seeded Salem State at 2:00 PM in Salem. MCLA (16-9) will await a potential ECAC Tournament berth.
Johnson led a balanced attack in an up tempo game. Aside from Johnson, Bridgewater placed four others in double figures. MCLA was led by Brendan Kordana's 23 points. The Trailblazers played without All MASCAC First Team selection, Jon Greenberg, who is out for the season with a knee injury.
MCLA jumped out of the gates quickly scoring the first ten points of the night. The Bears would respond with a 13-2 burst over the next four minutes to take a slim 13-12 lead with 13:08 left until halftime.
Bridgewater would expand the lead to eight points at 22-14 before MCLA answered with a run of their own. The Trailblazers used a 9-0 spurt capped by a Brendan Kordana triple to take a 23-22 advantage.
The Bears, however, would outscore MCLA 17-8 over the final six minutes to take a 40-34 lead into the locker room. Bridgewater senior guard Corey Connor (Providence, R.I.) knocked down four three-pointers to score all 12 of his points in the opening half. Connor, who has 84 trifectas on the season, eclipsed BSU Hall of Famer Joe O'Connor's single-season program mark of 81 three-pointers set back in 1992-93.
MCLA never led in the second half, though they did cut the margin to 49-47 just 2:13 into the half when Benny Cuprill knocked down a pair of three's, while a Ramon Viches' put-back pulled MCLA within a pair. The Bears responded though with a quick 14-2 run to build a commanding 63-49 lead with just under twelve minutes remaining.
The hosts would cut the lead to seven on a Tyriq Rochester jumper making it 68-61 but MCLA would get no closer the rest of the way. Bridgewater would push the lead to 16 with under five minutes to play and were never threatened down the stretch.
Johnson collected his double-double on 6 of 10 shooting from the floor and 11 of 13 from the charity stripe. He was joined in double figures by senior forwards Judah Jackson (Everett, Mass.) and Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, Mass.), each of whom finished with 14 points. Jackson added five assists. Sophomore forward Anthony Fortes (East Providence, R.I.) came off the bench to score ten points.
Kordana finished 10-17 from the floor including a pair of triples. Viches would finish with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Jamal Brown posted a double-double of 12 points and 11 boards. Benny Cuprill added 10 points and five assists.
Notes: Bridgewater will be playing in the MASCAC title game for the third straight season and fourth time in the past six years. The Bears have won four MASCAC Tournament titles in all (1999, 2006, 2009, 2010).