MVP Lofton Leads Men's Basketball to MASCAC Tournament Title

SALEM, Mass. – Tournament MVP Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.) posted a double-double with 24 points, including the 1,000th of his career, and 13 rebounds as the second-seeded Bears of Bridgewater State upended the number one seed Vikings of Salem State, 83–73, to claim the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Championship on Saturday at Twohig Gymnasium.

With the victory, Bridgewater (16-11) earn its' sixth MASCAC Tournament post-season championship, which includes an automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division III Tournament.  The Bears will be making the program's seventh appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament and fourth in the last six years.  The tournament pairings will be announced Monday afternoon on NCAA.com with the selection show getting underway at 12:30 PM.

Lofton went 9-for-15 from the floor and added two assists and a pair of blocked shots. He became the 27th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone when he scored on a lay-up with 2:16 remaining in the first half.  

Brendan Monteiro (Brockton, Mass.) also poured in 24 points for the Bears on 8 of 15 shooting, while Kyle Gibson (Franklin, Mass.) chipped in with 15 points and eight rebounds.

Bryan Ortiz (Salem, Mass.) got the ball rolling for the Vikings in the first half with three three-pointers in the first four minutes that gave Salem State a 16-8 lead. First Team all-conference forward Lofton scored 12 points for the Bears in the half and was an offensive force in the paint as Bridgewater State outscored Salem State 24-12 in the post. Though the Vikings were getting beat down low, they took their game to the perimeter, shooting 5-for-10 from beyond the arc. A Chris Parenteau (Lancaster, Mass.) layup gave Salem State a 28-22 lead with 9:42 remaining in the first and forced the Bears to use a timeout. Bridgewater responded, and a three-pointer from Ryan Spencer (Franklin, Mass.) sparked a 20-8 run that ended the half with the Bears (16-11) leading 45-36. During that stretch, Barrett Murphy (Marshfield, Mass.) scored five points while Tyler DeMelo (East Freetown, Mass.) capped off the run with a buzzer-beating three-pointer.

Down 11 in the early stages of the second half, the Vikings were able to cut the deficit to just five after an Andrew White (Medford, Mass.) mid-range jumper with just under 11 minutes to play. Salem State capitalized on consecutive defensive stops by scoring on back-to-back possessions, including a Nicholas Grassa (Lynn, Mass.) three-point play, to pull to within one point of the Bears, 65-64, with 3:30 remaining. However, Monteiro, who heated up in the second half scoring 18 of his total 24 points, scored five straight points on back-to-back possessions for Bridgewater State that gave the Bears a 70-64 lead with 2:06 remaining.  Gibson, Monteiro and Lofton hit some critical foul shots in the final four minutes as they combined to go 15-for-18 from the line during that span to secure the 83-73 victory.

Ortiz finished the game with 21 points while teammate Grassa finished with 18 points. Hamed Akanni (Fitchburg, Mass.) added 13 points off the bench. Salem State finishes the year with a 17-9 record.

Notes: Four of the Bears' six MASCAC Tournament championship game victories have occured at Salem State (1999, 2009, 2011, 2014).