Bridgewater State Men’s Basketball Team has a New Look

By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team opened the season over the weekend with a new starting lineup.

After losing four players to graduation and another to injury, the Bears had three juniors and two sophomores start at the Babson Invitational where they went 1-1.

BSU, which plays at MIT tonight, has no seniors on the roster after making it to the championship game of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament last winter.

"We're young,'' said coach Joe Farroba, now in his 24th season. "We're a new team with some returning players who don't have a lot of minutes.

"I like this team. They work hard. The potential is there. Hopefully, each day we get better.''

Four of last year's starters, including Michael Lofton (1,504 points, 905 rebounds, school-record 156 blocked shots), Justin Clark, Barrett Murphy and Kyle Gibson – are gone.

A fifth starter, Tyler DeMelo, is sidelined with an ankle injury and may wind up sitting out the season.

The new starting five includes juniors Fawaz Mass of Taunton, Greg Romanko and 6-foot-6 center Conor Dunleavy, with sophomores Rocky DeAndrade and 6-foot-7 forward Joe Carty.

Mass made the all-tournament team at the Babson Invitational and was named the MASCAC player of the week, averaging 17 points and 6.5 rebounds, while DeAndrade scored 12 points per game.

"He's very tough in transition and a hard worker on offense and defense,'' said Farroba of Mass. "Rocky is doing what we thought we would get when we recruited him.''

Carty is a transfer from Beacom-Goldey while Dunleavy spent the 2014-15 academic year studying in Ireland.

The rotation will also include juniors Patrick McGuinness, Mike Soares and Alex White of Marshfield, plus freshmen Ryan Carney of Easton, Kasey Kirby and Jamir Henderson.

"We have a lot of guys we can use,'' said Farroba. "Practices are auditions every day.''

BSU is picked to finish third in the MASCAC.

The Bears play nine of their first 11 games on the road with the home opener on Nov. 24 against Rhode Island College.