Men's Basketball Posts 85-61 MASCAC Win over Fitchburg State

FITCHBURG, Mass. --Junior forward Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.) tallied 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the visiting Bridgewater State University men's basketball team to an 85-61 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over Fitchburg State University on Saturday afternoon.

The Bears improve to 14-10 on the season and remain atop the MASCAC standings with an 8-3 conference mark.  The host Falcons fall to 2-20 overall and 2-8 in MASCAC play.

Lofton connected on 8 of 11 field goal attempts and added four assists, two blocked shots and three steals.  BSU junior forward Kyle Gibson (Franklin, Mass.) notched 16 points and seven boards, while junior guard Justin Clark (Yarmouth Port, Mass.) finished with 12 points, three rebounds and four assists.

Senior guard Mike Ingram-Rubin (Boston, Mass.) registered a game-best 22 points for host Fitchburg while collecting nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Anthony Muccioli (Nashua, N.H.) was the only other Falcon in double figures, scoring 13 points.  Senior forward Mo Molin (Brockton, Mass.) chipped in with seven points and nine boards.

The Bears closed out the first half with an 8-1 run to take a nine point lead (42-33) into the intermission.  Bridgewater State continued its momentum in the second period, posting a 15 point advantage just three minutes into the half. Gibson and Lofton combined for seven points in the opening surge for the Bears, while hot-shooting from Lofton throughout the frame (6-of-7) kept the visitors on top the rest of the way.  A 10-0 run jumpstarted by a Lofton layup at the 9:45 mark and capped off by a Lofton dunk four minutes later put the game out of reach.

For the game, Bridgewater State finished 28-of-60 (47%), while connecting on 8-of-23 (35%) from downtown. Fitchburg State was held to just 38% (21-56) shooting and connected on only 16-of-29 (55%) attempts from the charity stripe. The Falcons held a slim margin in rebounds (40-39), but finished just 3-of-12 (25%) from beyond the arc.

Fitchburg State will be back in action on Tuesday night as it travels to Worcester State for an eight o'clock conference game with the Lancers.  Bridgewater travels to Salem State University on Tuesday night to take on the Vikings at 7:30.  A win over the Vikings would give the Bears the MASCAC regular season crown and the top seed in the MASCAC Tournament.

Notes: With his 20 points, Lofton increased his career scoring total to 956.