BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Nyheem Sanders scored a game-high 25 points to the lead the visiting Rhode Island College men's basketball team to a 76-68 non-league victory over Bridgewater State University on Tuesday night at the Tinsley Center.
RIC improves to 3-2 with the win while the host Bears slip to 1-3.
Sanders connected on 9 of 11 field goals attempts, including 2-for-3 from three-point range, and went 5-for-6 at the free throw line. Tom DeCiantis added 13 points for the Anchormen, while Chris Burton chipped in with ten points and nine rebounds.
Michael Lofton paced the Bears with a double-double as he notched 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Lofton also added four assists and five steals. Brendan Monteiro chipped in with 17 points and four assists with 13 of his points coming in the first half. Kyle Gibson added 13 points and two steals.
Bridgewater jumped out to a 9-0 lead with Lofton connecting on back-to-back layups to cap off the game-opening run. The Bears still led by nine (18-9) as the clocked ticked under 13 minutes when RIC went on a 8-1 run to pull to within two (19-17) capped off by a DeCiantis layup at 9:42.
The Bears would get up by as many as seven points over the next five minutes and held a 33-26 advantage at the four-minute mark of the opening stanza. Eight unanswered points by the Anchormen nearly closed out the half with Sanders giving the visitors their first lead of the night (34-33) on a layup with 36 seconds remaining. Barrett Murphy, however, reclaimed the lead for the Bears as he buried a three-pointer with just six seconds left to send the hosts to the locker-room up 36-34.
The teams would exchange points over the first couple of minutes of the second half. After Monteiro tied the game at 41-41 with a three-pointer at the 17:09 mark, both teams went cold over the next six minutes combining for just four points.
Leading 49-48 with 8 ½ minutes left to play, the Anchormen used an 8-2 spurt over the next two minutes on six free throws and a Sanders layup to pull ahead 57-50.
The Bears would get as close as three points on three occasions the rest of the way but could not get any closer. A short jumper by Gibson cut the deficit to 67-64 with 1:31 remaining, but DeCiantis answered with an uncontested driving layup. Bridgewater went to the foul line on their next two possessions, sandwiched around a Burton layup, but missed the front end of a pair of two shot fouls on both trips.
Down 71-66 with 26 seconds left and coming out of a timeout, the Bears forced a turnover but could not capitalize despite two chances to cut into the deficit. The Anchormen would make 5 of 6 free throws in the final 19 seconds to secure the victory.
RIC shot 49% (26-53) from the floor and connected on 21 of 27 (78%) free throw attempts. Bridgewater shot 42% for the game and made just 8 of 15 (53%) free throws.