Men's Basketball Falls to Bowdoin in Overtime, 84-78

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Junior guard Lucas Hausman (Westport, Conn.) poured in a game-high 28 points to lead the visiting Bowdoin College men's basketball team to an 84-78 overtime victory over Bridgewater State University on Tuesday night at the Tinsley Center.

Hausman connected on 11 of 16 field goal attempts and added five rebounds and a pair of assists.

Junior forward Matt Palecki (Southborough, Mass.) added 16 points, seven boards, two assists and two blocked shots for the visiting Polar Bears who improve to 8-3 on the season.  Senior forward Keegan Pieri (Camden, Maine) chipped in 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks, while senior center John Swords (Sudbury, Mass.) notched 12 points, seven boards, two assists and three blocks.

The host Bears also had four players finish in double-figure scoring led by 19 points from senior forward Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.).  Lofton also paced BSU with nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals.

Senior guard Justin Clark (Yarmouth Port, Mass.), junior guard Tyler DeMelo (East Freetown, Mass.) and senior forward Kyle Gibson (Franklin, Mass.) added 18 points apiece for the Bears who slip to 6-5.  Clark went 4-for-9 from behind the arc, while DeMelo shot 7-for-12 from the floor including 4-for-5 from three-point range.  Gibson also contributed eight rebounds with five coming off the offensive glass.

The Polar Bears opened the game with a 13-0 run capped off by a pair of hoops by Swords on a dunk and a layup.

Bridgewater cut the deficit to seven, 20-13, on a Lofton lay-in at the 12:11 mark, but the Bears were held without a point for the next four plus minutes.  Bowdoin would go on to take an 18-point advantage, 40-22, as the clock ticked under three minutes in the first half.

The Bears closed out the stanza with a 12-3 run highlighted by a pair of trifectas by Clark and four points by Lofton including a resounding breakaway dunk. A Lofton layup in the final seconds capped off the spurt as the teams headed to the locker room with Bowdoin leading 43-34.

Hausman tallied 14 first-half points for the Polar Bears, while Palecki added ten.  Clark paced the Bears in the opening period with 13 points on 4 of 5 shooting including 3-for-4 from behind the arc.  Lofton scored ten points over the first twenty minutes.

Bridgewater carried the momentum into the second half as the Bears outscored the Polar Bears, 14-4, over the first four minutes and took their first lead of the game, 48-47, on a DeMelo three-pointer at the 16:04 mark.

Hausman put the Polar Bears back out in front with a short jumper and Bowdoin would maintain the lead until the final minutes.

Trailing 68-59 with under five minutes remaining, the Bears came roaring back. DeMelo buried a jumper and followed that up with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 68-64.  Following a turnover, freshman guard Rocky DeAndrade (Mansfield, Mass.) drained a three-pointer to make it a one-point game, 68-67, with less than three minutes remaining.

After the teams exchanged scoreless possessions, Pieri made one of two free throws to give Bowdoin the 69-67 lead.  A Gibson jumper tied the score at 69-all with 1:13 left in regulation.  Palecki answered with an uncontested layup, but Gibson responded by knocking down a pair of free throws with just 28 seconds on the clock to even things up at 71 apiece.

On the ensuing possession, the Polar Bears looked as though they might win the game at the free throw line as a foul was called as time expired.  After a brief conversation among the officials, the foul was determined to be on the floor and the Bears were under the limit.  The game would head to overtime.

Bowdoin tallied the first four points of the extra session, but the BSU responded with a DeMelo trifecta and a Lofton layup to give the Bears their first lead (76-75) since early in the second half.

A three-pointer by Hausman was answered by a Gibson layup as the game was knotted at 78-78 with under a minute and half remaining.  The Bears, however, would not score again.  Swords knocked down a layup to put the Polar Bears back on top, 80-78 with 1:06 left to play.  Bridgewater had two chances to either tie the game or take the lead, but a DeMelo runner was blocked by Swords and a long three-pointer with the shot clock winding down was short.

The Bears fouled right away and got the break they needed as the front end of a one-on-one was missed.  Swords, however, corralled the offensive rebound and laid it in to give the visitors the 82-78 lead with just 26 seconds on the clock. After a missed BSU three-pointer, Palecki knocked down a pair of free throws to ice the game.

The Polar Bears shot 60% (36-60) from the floor and held a 38-31 rebounding advantage but also turned the ball over 16 times which led to 23 BSU points.

Bridgewater shot just 39% (28-71) from the field but knocked down ten three-pointers (10-26) and connected on 12 of 14 (86%) free throw attempts.  The Bears also grabbed 15 offensive rebounds, which led to a 15-11 edge in second chance points, and kept their turnover figure under ten (nine) for the third time in the last four games.

The Bears open up MASCAC play on Thursday night when they travel to MCLA for a 7:30 game with the Trailblazers. The Polar Bears travel to NESCAC foe Connecticut College on Friday night to take on the Camels at seven.

Notes: With his 19 points, Lofton moved past Ken Brennan (1,179 pts.) and Billy English (1,179 pts.) into 18th place on the Bears' all-time scoring list.  Lofton now has 1,184 points in four seasons at Bridgewater State.