Men's Basketball Falls to Salem State, 72-61, in MASCAC Semifinals

SALEM, Mass. -- Second-seeded Salem State University posted a 72-61 victory over #3 Bridgewater State University in the semifinal round of the 2016 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Basketball Tournament on Thursday night at Twohig Gymnasium.

The Vikings improves to 16-10 on the season as they move on to the championship game on Saturday, where they will attempt to win their 17th MASCAC Tournament Championship against #1 seed Fitchburg State University. Tip-off is slated for 1:00 PM. The Bears end their season with an overall mark of 13-13.

Shaquan Murray (Boston, Mass.) paced the Vikings with a game-high 25 points to go along with six rebound and three steals, while Marcus Faison (Cambridge, Mass.) posted a double-double with 18 points and an impressive 22 rebounds including nine offensive boards. Shyheim Davis (Boston, Mass.) added 12 points and four rebounds for the hosts.

Rocky DeAndrade (Mansfield, Mass.) led the Bears with a team-best 19 points, while Fawaz Mass (Taunton, MA) contributed 14 points and Ryan Carney (Easton, Mass.) tallied 12 points in 19 minutes off the bench. Joseph Carty (Natick, Mass.) pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair with a total of 12 lead changes and seven ties. DeAndrade led the charge for the Bears early on as he tallied 11 points, shooting a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc including a game-tying three-pointer at the 11:10 mark to knot the game at 15-15. Murray, however, matched DeAndrade with 11 points of his own including a fast break layup to answer DeAndrade's three-pointer to regain the lead for the Vikings, 18-17, with ten minutes on the clock.

Salem State mainly looked inside for the majority of their scoring as the Vikings scored 18 points in the paint compared to Bridgewater State's 10. The Bears were active on the offensive glass, bringing down seven offensive boards that they converted into seven points. Davis converted a free throw with 2:39 remaining that was the final point of the stanza which allowed Salem State to take a 29-28 advantage heading into the intermission.

The Vikings opened up the second with a 15-5 run that allowed the home team to gain a 43-33 lead with 15:45 remaining. Davis tallied eight points during he run.

After a slow start to the game with only two points and six rebounds, Faison exploded in the second half with 18 rebounds and 16 points. The Vikings were able to hold a double-digit lead throughout the the remainder of the game as they got up by as many as 17 points (72-55) late in the period.

The Bears struggled on offense as they shot only 33% (20-61) from the floor. The visitors knocked down 6 of 17 (35%) three-point field goals and went 15-for-17 (88%) from the free throw line.

Salem dominated the inside game, outscoring Bridgewater 50-24 in the paint while holding a 24-9 advantage in second chance points. The Vikings outrebounded the Bears by a healthy margin of 55-36 including a 24-10 edge on the offensive glass.