Men's Basketball Posts 87-71 Victory over Colby-Sawyer in Naismith Classic Consolation Game

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Senior guard Ryan Carney (Easton, Mass.) scored a game-high 28 points and senior forward Dimitri St. Louis (Brockton, Mass.) posted a double-double with 22 points and a game-best 11 rebounds to lead the Bridgewater State University men's basketball team to an 87-71 victory over Colby-Sawyer College in the consolation game of the 2020 Hampton Inn West Springfield Naismith Classic on Saturday afternoon at Springfield College's Blake Arena.

The Bears improve to 3-9 on the season, while the Chargers fall to 5-5.

Carney connected on 11 of 19 field goal attempts, including 5-for-11 from behind the arc, and added five rebounds, game-high seven assists and a steal. St. Louis, who earned All-Tournament honors, went 8-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-4 from three-point range. He also notched four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

Senior forward Rayshon Ward (Fayetteville, Mass.) checked in with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists, a steal and three blocked shots for the Bears, while sophomore forward Jose Monteiro Jr. (Brockton, Mass.) notched ten points, four rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals, and sophomore guard Alan Pettway (Worcester, Mass.) tallied seven points and five assists.

The Bears' five starters combined for 86 of the team's 87 points.

Senior center Dana Bean (Franklin, N.H.) paced Colby-Sawyer with 20 points, while senior forward Patrick Coffey (Westford, Mass.) added 14 points and freshman forward Omar Boone (Colorado City, Texas) contributed 12.

The Bears jumped out to a 16-2 lead 4 ½ minutes into the game. St. Louis tallied seven points during the run while Carney added five points and Monteiro Jr. checked in with four. Later in the stanza, an 8-0 Colby-Sawyer run, with Bean scoring six of the eight points, whittled the BSU lead down to six (32-26) with 4:25 left to play until halftime. The Bears, however, answered with an 11-2 spurt, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers from Carney and St. Louis and a traditional three-point play by Ward, to push the advantage up to 15 (43-28) with a minute remaining. Coffey dropped in a layup to close out the first half scoring as the Chargers faced a 43-30 deficit heading into the break.

Colby-Sawyer held the edge in play over the first ten minutes of the second half and pulled to within three, 59-56, following a Coffey jumper. A Carney trifecta would give Bridgewater State a six-point cushion and the Bears' lead would fluctuate between four and seven points over the next three minutes. A pair of Monteiro Jr. free throws jumpstarted a 12-0 BSU run as the Bears held the Chargers scoreless for over five minutes and pulled ahead 82-65 with 2:36 left to play in the game. Ward capped off the decisive run with a three-pointer. Bridgewater got up by as many as 18 points (87-69) before settling for the 87-71 victory.

The Bears shot 55% (32-68) for the game and went 10-for-26 (38.5%) from behind the arc and 13-for-21 (62%) at the free throw line. The Chargers connected on 48% (30-63) of their field goal attempts and finished 6-for-17 (35%) from three-point range and 5-for-6 (83%) at the charity stripe.

Bridgewater held a 40-28 advantage in points in the paint.

The Bears open Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play on Saturday afternoon when they host MCLA at three. The Chargers entertain Thomas College on Tuesday night at seven.

Notes: Carney moved into 14th place on the Bears' all-time scoring list as he now has 1,287 career points.