Men's Basketball Downs FDU-Florham, 80-68

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team resumed its season with a victory on Saturday night.

Playing for the first time since a loss to Emerson College on Dec. 12, the Bears defeated Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham, 80-68, in the opening round of the Trinity Holiday Invitational.

The Bears, who snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 4-7, will face host Trinity College in the championship game Sunday at 2 p.m.

Trinity (12-0), ranked tenth in the most recent D3hoops.com Poll, advanced with a resounding 90-39 victory over Thomas College of Maine (4-7) at the Ray Oosting Gym/Stan Ogeodrik Court. Thomas and Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham play at noon on Sunday in the consolation round.

The Bears and Bantams will be meeting for the first time since Dec. 8, 2012. BSU holds a 3-1 edge in the series in January 2010.

Graduate student Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) was a perfect 10-for-10 from the field to lead BSU with 25 points. He also had 10 rebounds and blocked four shots.

Also in double figures was freshman Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.) with 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting to go with six rebounds.

Sophomore Micah Moore (West Orange, N.J.) and senior Brian Nichols (Roxbury, N.J.) scored 13 points apiece to lead Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham in the first meeting between the Devils and Bears.

BSU rebounded from a cold shooting start to take a 38-32 lead over the Devils (3-7) at halftime. The Bears put together a strong defensive performance throughout, giving up the fewest points of the season.

They opened the second half on a 15-5 run to pull away from Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham, which never threatened after the break.

The Bears missed 12 of their first 15 shots in the game and trailed, 14-8, before sophomore guard Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) hit a 3-pointer with 11:01 remaining before the break.

BSU was 0-for-4 to open the game before junior Alex Gonzalez (Peabody, Mass.) converted an offensive rebound for a basket, making it, 3-3, 3:16 into the game.

But the Devils grabbed their largest lead at 14-8 on a jumper by junior Mike Morrissey (Pearl River, N.Y.) with 11:43 left in the half.

That is when the BSU offense got going, making 13 of the last 21 shots in the half to open the six-point lead.

It all began with a 12-0 run over 2:32 when the Bears turned the six-point deficit into a 20-14 lead with 8:29 to go in the half.

Kikuba's 3-pointer was followed by a layup by sophomore Louis Jennings (Walpole, Mass.) and a three-point play by Halbleib, putting the Bears up, 16-14.

Layups by Jennings and Halbleib widened the lead to six points.

Fairleigh Dickinson, located in Madison, N.J., regained the lead at 28-27 on a 3-pointer by Moore with 3:59 left.

BSU ended the half with an 11-4 run to take the 38-32 lead at halftime. Campbell hit a jumper and a 3-pointer, and Halbleib and senior Justin Parsons (Portsmouth, R.I.) made layups with 23 seconds to go and at the buzzer, respectively.

Both teams shot 44 percent in the half with BSU going 2-for-9 from 3-point range. There were five ties and six lead changes, and the Devils turned the ball over 14 times.

Halbleib went 5-for-5 and scored 11 points in the half while Campbell scored eight points.

The 38-32 halftime edge jumped to 53-37 just 6:17 into the second half.

BSU, which had dropped six of its previous seven games, limited the Devils to just two baskets in 10 attempts during that run.

Senior Precious Okoh (Brockton, Mass.), in his season debut, and Campbell started the half with layups and a three-point play by Halblieb put the lead into double digits at 45-35.

Freshman Zach Taylor (Quincy, Mass.) scored on a pullup and Campbell converted a layup before two free throws by Parsons gave the Bears their 53-37 lead with 13:43 left.

BSU was up, 62-41, with 9:43 remaining on a drive by Halbleib following a steal.

The Devils did not make a serious threat down the stretch, and the Bears had their first win since Dec. 6.

The BSU defense limited Fairleigh Dickinson to 29 percent shooting (13-for-45) in the second half and 35 percent for the game.

The Bears won despite going 2-for-18 on 3-pointers, missing all nine in the second half. BSU was also just 16 of 27 from the foul line.

After playing in the championship game Sunday, the Bears will begin Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference play at Salem State Wednesday at 7 p.m.