Men's Basketball Falls to Salem State, 93-84

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Graduate guard Sean Bryan (Lowell, Mass.) scored a game-high 27 points to lead the visiting Salem State University men's basketball team to a 93-84 win over Bridgewater State University in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) tilt on Wednesday night at the Tinsley Center.

The Vikings improve to 11-8 on the season and 7-1 in the MASCAC, while the Bears fall to 4-13 overall and 2-4 in conference play. Salem swept the season series as the two teams met back on January 8th at Salem with the Vikings posting a 95-73 victory.

Bryan connected on 8 of 13 field goal attempts and went 9-for-13 from the free throw line. He also pulled down four rebounds, dished out eight assists and recorded three steals.

Senior forward Chris MacDonald (Wakefield, Mass.) and sophomore guard Deven Okowuga (Lowell, Mass.) checked in with 14 points apiece off the bench for the Vikings, while freshman guard Juvens Louis (Everett, Mass.) scored 13 points also off the bench. The trio combined to go 9-for-14 from behind the arc. Okowuga posted a double-double as he also grabbed ten rebounds (three offensive).

Graduate guard Jordan Wetterlind (Twig, Minn.) paced Bridgewater State with a season-high 19 points to go along with eight rebounds, eight assists and a pair of steals. 17 of Wetterlind's team-best 19 points came in the second half.

Junior forward Stanley Pierre-Louis (Roxbury, Mass.) scored a career-high 17 points and hauled in six rebounds for the Bears, while freshman guard Quinton Champagne (Wrentham, Mass.) notched 15 points and four assists, and senior guard David Laine (Bourne, Mass.) added a career-best 14 points to go along with five assists.

Bridgewater State jumped out to a 14-2 lead just four minutes into the game. The Bears connected on six of their first seven shots with Pierre-Louis scoring eight points and Laine knocking down a pair of three-pointers. The Vikings bounced back with a 19-5 run over the next seven-plus minutes. Salem drained four three-pointers during the spurt including a trifecta from Green which gave the visitors their first lead of the game at 21-19 with 8:51 left to play in the first half. Leading 30-28 in the latter stages of the stanza, the Vikings outscored the Bears 19-6 over the final 3:52 to take a 49-34 lead into the break.

Pierre-Louis scored 13 points in the opening stanza, while MacDonald tallied 11 for the Vikings.

A three-point play by Bryan with at the 17:15 mark of the second half gave the visitors a 56-40 lead. A 17-5 BSU run, highlighted by eight points from Wetterlind, over a five-minute stretch pulled the Bears to within four at 61-57. The Vikings answered with eight straight points out of a timeout, including a three-pointers from Okowuga and MacDonald, to push the lead back to double-digits at 69-57 as the clock ticked under ten minutes. Bridgewater made one final push as Wetterlind knocked down a pair of free throws with 7:33 remaining to pull the Bears to within seven at 69-62. Bryan, however, buried a three-pointer at the other end of the floor and the Bears would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Salem shot 56% (32-57) for the game including 14-for-26 (54%) from three-point range. The Vikings, however, struggled at the free throw line converting just 15 of 30 (50%) from the stripe and turned the ball over 20 times.

The Bears connected on 48% (34-71) of their field goal attempts and went 6-for-18 (33%) from behind the arc and 10-for-19 (53%) at the line. Bridgewater finished with 18 turnovers.

The Bears held the advantage in points in the paint (46-32), points off turnovers (29-20) and second chance points (19-6). The Salem bench outscored the BSU reserves by a decided margin of 45-10.

The MASCAC schedule continues for both teams on Saturday afternoon. The Bears travel to Worcester State University for a three o'clock game with the Lancers, while the Vikings head to Westfield State University to take on the Owls at two.