SALEM, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State Bears won their third consecutive MASCAC Tournament championship after beating the Salem State Vikings, 91-73, in the tournament finals at the James Twohig Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
It was the fifth overall MASCAC tournament title from the number three seed Bears as they snapped a 16-game Viking win streak dating back to January 6. With the MASCAC's automatic qualifier, Bridgewater will be making the program's third straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament and sixth overall.
Bridgewater led by as many as 22 points in the second-half, but the Vikings went on a 15-0 run to cut their deficit to just seven with 9:55 on the clock. But Bridgewater State hit 17-of-21 free throws down the stretch and held off the Vikings' surge to win the title.
The Bears' senior forward Judah Jackson (Everett, Mass.) hit a jumper after an offensive rebound by Andrew Kelley (Mansfield, Mass.) to put Bridgewater State back up by 13 with 5:42 left to play. The Vikings answered with a bucket from Brian Clark (Deerfield, Mass.), to bring their deficit back to 11, but were unable to get any closer than that as the Bears cruised to commanding victory.
Jackson won the tournament MVP honors. He nearly posted a triple-double with 18 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in the championship game. Senior forward Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, Mass.) was the game's leading scorer as he finished with 22 point to go along with seven boards and three steals.
Senior guard Corey Connor (Providence, R.I.), senior center Samuel Johnson (North Chelmsford, Mass.), and sophomore guard Anthony Fortes (East Providence, R.I.) also put up double-figures in points for Bridgewater State. Connor tallied13 points on 3 of 6 shooting from three-point range. Johnson notched 14 points, six rebounds and two steals while Fortes added 14 points and six boards.
Salem State's Apollos Wade (Taunton, Mass.) opened the first-half on fire by nailing a trio of three pointers, but the Bears went on an 11-2 run late in the period capped by a Motta jumper, and went into the locker room with a 44-33 lead.
Wade finished the game with 19 points. Tavone Wynder (Boston, Mass.) posted a double-double with 10 points and ten boards. Brian Clark scored 14 points and Dan Clark (Deerfield, Mass.) put up 11.
Bridgewater State stayed hot after halftime as Motta made a layup and was fouled and converted from the line on the Bear's second possession to increase their lead to 14. After Brian Clark hit one of two from the charity stripe on the Viking's next possession, Salem State's Tristian Shannon (Andover, Mass.) fouled Motta and then was called for a technical. Connor made both technical shots and Motta made one of two and the visiting Bears went up by 16 early in the period.
Notes: With his 18 points, Jackson increased his career scoring total to 1,460 as he moved past Joe Wise (1,451 points) into seventh place on the Bears' all-time scoring list….In addition to their three straight NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, the Bears also advanced to the NCAAs in 1983, 1999 and 2006.