Kikuba Sets Assist Mark as Men's Basketball Rallies for 81-71 Win Over Fitchburg

By Jim Fenton

FITCHBURG, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team finished its regular-season road schedule with a comeback victory.

On a day when junior Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) became the program's all-time career leader in assists, the Bears wiped out a 14-point deficit in the final 8:42 to overtake Fitchburg State University, 81-71.

BSU had trailed, 65-51, with less than nine minutes to go before closing the game on a 30-6 run for the victory Saturday afternoon. The Falcons scored just two points after holding a 69-58 lead with 7:27 to go.

The Bears (10-14) improved to 5-6 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference with one game remaining.

The Falcons (5-18) are 2-8 in the conference after dropping their fourth straight game.

Kikuba had four assists, giving him 419 in nearly three seasons at BSU. He broke the record of 418 held for nearly 40 years by Mark Dias, who played from 1982-86.

The record-breaking assist came with 1:06 to go when Kikuba set up graduate student Noah Downing (Brockton, Mass.) for a 3-pointer that opened a 77-71 lead.

Kikuba led BSU with 18 points, making 10 of 11 foul shots, and had seven rebounds and four assists. Kikuba, who became the 31st player to score 1,000 points at BSU earlier this season, ranks 27th in program history with 1,075 points in his career.

Sophomore Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.) scored 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting and had six rebounds for the Bears.

Sophomore Sam Sweeney (Burlington, Vt.) added 14 points off the bench for his seventh straight game in double figures.

Also contributing to the BSU win were Downing and junior Samuel Omisore (Boston, Mass.) with nine points and five rebounds each, while senior Alvin Chukwuezi (Nashua, N.H.) tied for the team lead with seven rebounds to go with six points.

The Falcons were led by senior Nathaniel Semedo (Bridgewater, Mass.) with 28 points and five rebounds plus sophomore Matthew Drayton (Boston, Mass.) with 21 points, 14 in the first half.

The Bears made 44 percent of their shots while limiting Fitchburg State to 26 percent.

BSU was in front, 37-33, at halftime and owned a 45-40 lead after a Kikuba layup just 2:31 into the second half.

But the Falcons outscored the Bears, 23-4 over a stretch of nearly seven minutes to take a 63-49 lead with 9:24 remaining.

BSU missed 10 of 12 shots and had three turnovers during the Fitchburg State run. Semedo scored 14 of the 23 Falcons' points to push their lead into double figures.

The Bears answered with a 22-6 run of their own and regained the lead at 71-69 with 2:49 to play on a layup by Campbell.

BSU received nine points from Campbell and five foul shots from Kikuba to climb back into the game during that stretch.

Fitchburg State's only points in the last seven-plus minutes was a jumper by Braeden White (Spencer, Mass.) with 2:21 left, tying the game at 71.

The Bears scored the final 10 points in the last 1:49 of the game with Chukwuezi making two foul shots, Kikuba hitting three foul shots and setting up Downing for the 3-pointer and Sweeney closed it with two foul shots.

Fitchburg State went 1-for-11 with six turnovers down the stretch.

The Bears trailed, 12-6, in the opening minutes with the Falcons making 3 of 4 shots from 3-point range.

BSU opened a 31-25 lead on a jumper by Downing after the game had been tied, 25-25, and the Bears led by eight at 37-29, on a Campbell jumper.

But layups by Semedo and Drayton in the final 1:37 enabled Fitchburg State to get within 37-33 at halftime.

The final game of BSU's regular season is Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. against first-place Westfield State University (18-5, 8-2), which is tied for first place in the conference with Worcester State.

It will be Senior Night at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears, who handed the Owls a loss in Westfield on Jan. 25, are currently fourth in the MASCAC, a game ahead of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

The team that finishes fourth will host an opening-round MASCAC tournament game.

Fitchburg State next plays Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Salem State University.