Men's Basketball Falls to Regis in Cave Classic Semifinals, 65-58

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team dropped a 65-58 decision to visiting Regis College in the semifinal round of the 2025 BSU Cave Classic on Friday night at the Tinsley Center.

The visiting Pride improve to 4-1 on the season with their third straight win while the Bears fall to 0-4.

The two teams were meeting for the first time in regular season or postseason play.

Regis will take on Fisher College in the tournament championship game tomorrow afternoon at two o'clock while Bridgewater will face Wentworth in the consolation game at noon.

Fisher posted a 93-85 win in the other semifinal round matchup.

Sophomore Rob Elliot (Willington, Conn.) paced Regis with double-double totals of 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds (four offensive). Elliot also blocked  a pair of shots.

Senior Jamir Harvey (Robbins, Ill.) checked in with 13 points, seven board, three assists and two blocks for the Pride while senior Gehrig Brynda (Deerfield, Mass.) added ten points, six rebounds and three blocks, and sophomore Aamyr Sullivan (Middletown, N.Y.) notched a double-double with ten rebounds and ten assists to go along with two steals and six points.

Freshman Tzar Powell-Aparicio (Lowell, Mass.) scored a game-high 17 points in 30 miniutes off the bench to lead the way for Bridgewater State. Powell-Aparicio connected on 7 of 11 field goal attempts including 2-for-2 from three-point range. He also added four rebounds (two offensive), four assists and three steals.

The Bears also received 14 points, eight boards (two offensive), two assists and two blocks from junior Zach Taylor (Quincy, Mass.) as well as ten points, six rebounds (four offensive) and two blocks from junior Samuel Omisore (Boston, Mass.).

Both teams struggle with their shooting thoughout the contest even at the free throw line.

The Pride shot 38.8% (26-67) from the floor, 28% (7-25) from behind the arc and 37.5% (6-16) at the free throw line.

The Bears connected on just 38.7% (24-62) of their field goal attempts and finished 4-for-18 (22.2%) from three-point range and 6-for-14 (42.9%) at the charity stripe.

Rebounding was fairly even with Regis holding a slight 45-44 advantage on the boards including an 18-16 edge on the offensive glass. But the Pride were able to convert their 18 offensive rebounds into 21 points while the Bears notched just nine second chance points.

The first half featured three ties and three lead changes with Bridgewater holding a 31-28 lead at the break.

The second stanza was also tighly contested with six ties and three lead changes. The final lead change came with 6:46 left to play on an Elliot trifecta which put the Pride on top, 55-52.

Taylor made one of two free throws with 5 1/2 minutes remaining to cut the BSU deficit to 55-53, but the Pride reeled off nine straight points over the next three minutes on a pair of layups by Sullivan, a Harvey free throw and buckets from Brynda and Elliot to take control of the game.