Bridgewater, MA --- Senior Brendan Monteiro (Brockton, MA) poured in a game-best 31 points to help propel second-seeded Bridgewater State to a 66-62 triumph over #3 Worcester State in the semifinals of the MASCAC men's basketball tournament this evening at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears (15-11) move on to the MASCAC Championship to take on top-seeded Salem State on Saturday at 1 PM. The Lancers, who had won four straight games coming into the contest, end their campaign at 12-14 overall in their 16th conference tournament semifinal appearance.

Montiero, who also finished with six boards, did his damage on a 10-for-17 effort from the field and he was a perfect 9-for-9 at the line. Junior Kyle Gibson (Franklin, MA) also tallied 12 points and four assists while classmate Michael Lofton (Mansfield, MA) grabbed a squad-high 10 boards for BSU.

Senior Dane Jobst (Athol, MA) netted 13 points and he corralled a contest-best 14 boards for his 19th double-double in 26 contests.

Junior Brendan Rios (Easthampton, MA), freshman Noris Cuevas-Nova (Amherst, MA) and classmate Paul Brooks (Arlington, MA) all registered 10 points in the setback for the Lancers. Rios also had eight caroms and Jobst added four swipes.

With Bridgewater State up 53-62 and 6:27 on the clock late in the second period, the Lancers made it a 62-60 game just three minutes later with a 7-0 run which was finished off by Cuevas-Nova canning the back end of a bonus try.

Montierio connected for a jumper to make it a four point contest at the 2:55 mark before Jobst sank two buckets at the line to make it a one-possession game with 1:25 showing on the scoreboard (64-62).

In the waning moments, Montierio and Lofton missed shots for the hosts while the Lancers were whistled for a traveling violation with 35 ticks left.

Jobst then gave his team a lift with a steal at half court on the ensuing inbounds pass, but sophomore Manny Cabral's (Roslindale, MA) lay-up bid was rejected with 25 ticks remaining by Lofton. Cuevas-Nova had another chance for the visitors in the paint, however, Lofton came up with the defensive carom to help out the Bears at the charity stripe.

Montiero sealed up the win by calmly drilling the last two shots at the line for the Bears.

After the seventh lead change in a back-and-forth affair to start off the game, the Lancers used an 11-0 run to take over a 23-13 contest with 8:58 remaining. WSU continued to hold the hosts scoreless until sophomore Conor Dunleavey (Winchester, MA) broke a scoreless drought of more than six minutes with a jumper in the paint 90 ticks later.  

As the Blue and Gold held their largest margin in the period at 30-18 and 4:29 showing on the clock, Montiero sparked the Bears who closed out the frame with a 14-0 surge for the 32-30 advantage at the intermission.

Montiero started off the spurt with an old fashioned three-point play and he chipped in with 11 points in the skein.

After the break, Cuevas-Nova helped tie up the game by converting a lay-up for the 32-32 game, but then Bridgewater State embarked on a 12-1 spurt to take over a 44-33 advantage with 16:44 left.

BSU maintained their advantage through most of the second period with leads of 10 points at the 12:06 mark (55-45) and nine with 6:27 remaining in regulation (53-62).

The Blue and Gold finished shooting 40 percent for the game (26-for-65), but only drained two of their 15 bids from beyond the arc. In comparison, Bridgewater State held a modest 38 percent clip in the contest (23-for-61) while they nearly sank half of their shots from downtown (8-for-17).

The visitors controlled the paint (44-24) and the backboards (49-33) as they used a 17-10 offensive glass margin to lead in second-chance baskets (21-9).

BSU took full advantage of 20 Lancer miscues with a 21-8 lead in points off turnovers. The Bears also had 15 assists for 23 made field goals.