FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team received 29 points from senior guard Brendan Monteiro (Brockton, Mass.) as the Bears defeated the Framingham State University Rams, 87-70, this evening in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action at the Athletic Recreation Center.
With the victory, Bridgewater improves to 8-7 on the year and remains unbeaten at 3-0 in the conference. The Bears have won three straight games and seven of their last nine. The Rams slip to 5-9 overall with the setback and 1-2 in the MASCAC.
Monteiro, who has netted 25 or more points in each of the last three games, led all scorers as he connected on 9 of 15 field goal attempts including 4 of 6 from long range. He was also a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line and added six assists.
BSU junior forward Kyle Gibson (Franklin, Mass.) racked up a double-double with 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with four blocks and three assists, while classmate Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.) also dropped in 20 points and filled the stat sheet with eight caroms, five assists and two blocks.
The Rams were led by 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor by sophomore guard Tim McCarthy (Wilmington, Mass.). McCarthy also grabbed six boards and handed out two assists. Freshman guard Dan Gould (Quincy, Mass.) was the only other Ram to reach double figures with 11 points on 4-of-9 from the field. Junior forward Patrick Cuff (Medway, Mass.) and classmate George Jordan (Worcester, Mass.) finished with nine points apiece.
Bridgewater shot 53.6% (30-56) from the floor for the game, while the Rams connected on just 35% of their offerings on the night. Framingham outrebounded the Bears, 41-34, including a 20-6 advantage on the offensive glass.
Leading by four (26-22) late in the first half, the Bears closed out the stanza with a 10-2 run on the strength of six points from Monteiro and four by Lofton.
Bridgewater would maintain a double-digit advantage until midway through the second half when a Stephen Murphy (Braintree, Mass.) jumper followed by a Gould trifecta pulled the Rams to within six (57-51) with 10:54 remaining. The Bears, however, would score nine straight points over the next three minutes to take control of the game for good. Gibson tallied seven of those nine points.
The Bears would get up by as many as 19 points on six different occasions over the final seven plus minutes before settling for the 17-point victory.
The Rams are back in action on Thursday evening with a non-conference game against Vaughn at 5:30 p.m., while the Bears host UMass Boston Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Notes: With his 29 points, Monteiro increased his career total to 930. He has 441 points in two season at BSU and tallied 489 points in two seasons at Wentworth (2008-2010).