Gonzalez, Kikuba Lead Men's Basketball to 102-85 Senior Night Win Over Fitchburg State

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Sophomore guard Alex Gonzalez (Peabody, Mass.) scored a career-high 25 points and freshman guard Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) added 19 off the bench to lead the Bridgewater State University men's basketball team to a 102-85 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over visiting Fitchburg State University on Senior Night at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears improve to 17-7 on the season and 7-4 in the MASCAC while the Falcons fall to 9-14 overall and 4-7 in conference play. Bridgewater is 85-33 versus Fitchburg since 1960.

Prior to the start of the game, the Bears honored Jabray Griffin (Sr., F, Orlando, Fla.), Stanley Pierre-Louis (Sr., C, Roxbury, Mass.) and Jordan Wetterlind (Gr., G, Twig, Minn.).

Gonzalez connected on 10 of 16 field goal attempts and went 5-for-8 from behind the arc. He also added a season-high eight rebounds (five offensive), three assists, a steal and a blocked shot. Gonzalez notched 17 of his 25 points in the first half.

Kikuba scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half as he was 6-for-15 from the floor and 7-for-8 at the free throw line to go along with five rebounds, a game-high nine assists and three steals.

The Bears also received 16 points and six rebounds from Pierre-Louis and a career-high 12 points from Griffin. Pierre-Louis converted 8 of 9 field goal attempts, while Griffin was 4-for-7 from the floor, including a three-pointer, and 3-for-4 at the free throw line. BSU graduate center Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) pulled down a game-best 12 rebounds and recorded a game-high four blocks. Halbleib extended his BSU single-season record to 62 blocked shots.

Sophomore guard Frederick Siayor (Worcester, Mass.) paced Fitchburg State with 25 points, three rebounds, two assists, three blocks and a game-best six steals. Junior forward Quincy Taylor (Boston, Mass.) posted a double-double with 18 points and 11 boards (six offensive) for the Falcons, while sophomore guard Matthew Tanis (Hialeah, Fla.) checked in with 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

The first half featured three ties and seven lead changes. Clinging to a two-point advantage (38-36) with three minutes remaining, the Bears closed out the stanza with a 9-2 run to take a 47-37 lead into the break. Jennings jumpstarted the spurt with a three-pointer while Gonzalez, sophomore guard Tyler Uyemura (Kersey, Colo.) and Kikuba also scored during the run.

Gonzalez led all players with 17 first-half points as he connected on 7 of 11 field goals including 3-for-5 from behind the arc. Siayor paced the Falcons with nine points in the opening session.

The Bears shot 51.2% (21-41) from the floor and knocked down 5 of 14 (35.7%) three-point attempts over the first 20 minutes, while the Falcons converted 44.4% (16-36) of their field goal attempts and went 3-for-11 (27.3%) from behind the arc. Fitchburg made the only trips to the free throw line as the Falcons were 3-for-3 at the stripe.

The Bears held the Falcons to just four points over the first 7 ½ minutes of the second half, outscoring the visitors 21-4 during that span to open up a 68-42 lead. Griffin scored eight of his 12 points during the 21-4 run, while Gonzalez knocked down a pair of three-pointers.

After scoring just the four points over the first 7 ½ minutes of the second half, the Falcons came soaring back tallying 37 points over the next nine minutes to make things interesting. A Tanis jumper with 3:30 left to play cut the Fitchburg deficit to ten (89-79). However, a pair of free throws ands a layup by Kikuba quickly pushed the BSU lead back up to 14 (93-79) and the Falcons would get no closer than 12 the rest of the way.

Bridgewater shot 51.9% (40-77) for the game and finished 9-for-22 (40.9%) from behind the arc and 13-for-19 at the charity stripe. All 19 free throw attempts came in the second half.

Fitchburg shot 43% (37-86)) from the floor, just 18.2% (4-22) from three-point range and 70% (7-10) at the line.

The BSU bench outscored the Falcon reserves 41-21 highlighted by Kikuba's 19 points.

Both teams wrap up MASCAC and regular season play on Saturday at noon. The Bears travel to MCLA to take on the Trailblazers, while the Falcons host the Owls of Westfield State University.

Notes: The Bears hit the century mark for the fourth time this season.