Falcons Outlast Bears on Senior Day, 89-76

Perez with game high 27 points

Fitchburg, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University men's basketball team posted an 89-76 victory over the Bears of Bridgewater State in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action on Saturday afternoon at Parkinson Gymnasium. With the win the Falcons head into conference play as the #4 seed in the upcoming MASCAC championship.

Before the game, the Falcons recognized seniors Josh Bosworth (Springfield, Mass.) and Troy DaCosta (Cambridge, Mass.) for their outstanding contributions.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State University 89, Bridgewater State University 76
Records: Fitchburg State (11-14, 6-6 MASCAC) | Bridgewater State (16-9, 9-3 MASCAC)

How It Happened

Fitchburg State's Jonathan Perez (Lowell, Mass.)  lit up the scoreboard with a game-high 27 points, converting on 7-of-10 from the field. He also grabbed 6 rebounds and was joined by DaCosta (10 points), Tyrell St. John (Stamford, Conn.) (13 points), and Brandon Harris (San Bernardino, Calif.) (13 points) with double figures. Bosworth finished with the teams only double-double, posting 13 points and grabbing 10 caroms in the victory.

Bridgewater saw a group effort as well, with sophomore Rayshon Ward (Fayetteville, NC) leading the way with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Rocky DeAndrade (Mansfield, Mass) sunk 3-of-8 3-pointers on his way to 18 points, while sophomore Ryan Carney (Easton, Mass.) chipped in with 12 points.

A jumper from Perez at the 10:04 mark of the first half put the Falcons up double digits (25-15) as Fitchburg State kept on the gas for the entire frame. After Nick Crocker (East Falmouth, Mass.) brought the Bears within nine with a layup at 9:29 the hosts reeled off a 21-8 streak to take the largest lead of the game (47-25). Seniors DaCosta and Bosworth both paced the Green and Gold with 6 points in the run. The Bears' Darnell Richardson (Medford, Mass.) hit a trey to finish the scoring in the first frame as Fitchburg State would take a 17 point (50-33) halftime lead into the break.

Bridgewater responded in the second half, opening the stanza with a 17-6 run and cut the deficit to six points when Ward hit a layup at the 14:43 mark.  Holding just a nine point lead (64-55) Bosworth would score a layup and Perez would hit four from the charity stripe to bump the Falcons up by 15 points with just under seven minutes to play. The Bears couldn't mount another comeback attempt as the Green and Gold would notch their 11^th win of the season.

Inside the Numbers
Fitchburg State posted a shooting percentage of 44.8% on 30-for-67 shooting, while Bridgewater finished at 41.2% (28-of-68).

Fitchburg State University held the advantage on the boards (45-39), and turnovers (11-15).

Bridgewater had nine blocks in the loss.

96th meeting between the two schools on the parquet with the Falcons 29-67 all-time when taking on the Bears.

Fitchburg State has won three of the last five games against Bridgewater State with the Bears securing a 68-58 triumph in the last match up with the Falcons at the Tinsley Center (1/25/18), earlier this season.​ 

Up Next
As the #4 seed the Falcons will host Westfield State in MASCAC quarterfinal round action on Tuesday night at 7:00pm.