Men's Basketball Downs MCLA, 89-71, for 5th Straight Win

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team extended its winning streak to five games on Saturday afternoon.

The Bears improved to 7-2 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference with an 89-71 victory over the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts at the Amsler Campus Center Gym.

Second-place BSU is now just one-half game behind Worcester State University (7-1). The two teams will meet on Wednesday night at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears moved above .500 overall at 11-10 for the first time since they were 2-1 in mid-November.

Precious Okoh (Brockton, Mass.) poured in a season-high 30 points to lead BSU. Okoh went 11-for-15 from the floor including 4-for-6 from behind the arc.

Freshman Zach Taylor (Quincy, Mass.) checked in with 16 points and six rebounds for the Bears. Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) added 11 points and five assists while Louis Jennings (Walpole, Mass.) scored ten points and Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) grabbed nine rebounds and had six points.

MCLA (11-10, 5-4 MASCAC) was led by Craig Williams (Dover, Del.) with 18 points. Quentin Gittens (Pittsfield, Mass.) had 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds while Jayden Mills (Bronx, N.Y.) had 11 points.

BSU avenged an 80-76 loss to the Trailblazers in Bridgewater on Jan. 10.

The game was even at 21-21 with 11:23 to go in the first half after MCLA scored eight points in a row, getting a pair of 3-pointers from Mills in that spurt.

But the Bears outscored the Trailblazers, 33-12, over the final 10:06 of the half to open a 54-33 advantage at the midway point.

BSU made 13 of 18 shots during that run, hitting 10 of 11 shots during one stretch. MCLA missed 11 of 16 while turning the ball over eight times in that same span.

Okoh had 10 of his points and Taylor scored nine during the run that turned the game in the Bears' favor.

BSU shot 67 percent in the first half while MCLA hit only 39 percent. The Bears scored 20 points off 11 turnovers by the Trailblazers.

Okoh made 7 of 9 shots for 19 points and Taylor had 13 points in the half.

MCLA opened the second half on a 9-2 run with seven points by Gittens to get within 56-42, but that was its only threat.

The Bears responded by outscoring MCLA, 12-3, in less than four minutes and build the lead back to 68-45 with 12:30 remaining. Okoh had eight points in the run including a 3-pointer and a three-point play.

The closest MCLA got the rest of the way was 16, but back-to-back baskets by Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.), a 3-pointer by Justin Parsons (Portsmouth, R.I.) and a Kikuba layup widened the lead to 83-58.

BSU was 38-for-65 (58.5 percent) from the field. Both teams had 16 turnovers, but the Bears turned them into 26 points, and BSU had 52 points in the paint.

The Bears play their final two home regular-season games beginning Wednesday night against Worcester State at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. against Fitchburg State. The home finale will be Senior Day and Alumni Day.

MCLA is at Salem State for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday.