PHOENIX, Ariz. - The Bridgewater State College men's basketball team dropped a 74-66 decision to Transylvania University in the third-place game of the 2008 Cactus Jam held at Phoenix College in Phoenix, Arizona.
Senior center Roland Millien (Stoughton, MA)
paced Bridgewater State with 16 points, nine rebounds, two blocks
and two steals. The Bears went 1-2 at the tournament and will
return to New England with an overall record of 6-4.
Bridgewater trailed throughout most of the contest, leading just
once (7-6) in the opening minutes. Down 24-20 late in the
first half, the Bears were outscored 13-7 over the final four
minutes as Transylvania took a 36-27 lead into the intermission.
BSC trailed by double digits for most of the second half. The Bears did manage to cut the deficit to six points (72-66) on a three-pointer by Corey Connor with 26 seconds left on the clock. Transylvania however connected on a pair of free throws moments later to ice the game away.
Sophomore guard Judah Jackson (Everett, MA) and junior guard Matt McLaughlin (Rochester, MA) also finished in double figures for the Bears. Jackson finished with 14 points, five assists and four rebounds, while McLaughlin Chipped in with 14 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Transylvania senior forward Joey Verax scored 14 points to surpass the 1,000-point mark for his career. Verax now has 1,004 career points as he became just the 41st Transy men's player to reach 1,000 for his career.
Senior guard Aaron Cash led the Pioneers with 15 points and Blake McCowan added 14 points and eight rebounds to the attack. Senior forward Brock Jones was also in double digits with 13 points.