Men's Basketball Posts 92-76 MASCAC Win Over Anna Maria

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team ended a three-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon.

Senior Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) had the second-highest assists total in program history as the Bears defeated Anna Maria College, 92-76, at the Tinsley Center.

BSU (7-14) led throughout and improved to 5-5 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference while the AMCATS (5-15) fell to 2-8 in the conference.

Anna Maria, in its first season in the MASCAC, also lost at home to the Bears, 82-66, on Jan. 14.

Kikuba, who holds the BSU career record for assists, had 14 assists against the AMCATS.

That ranks second all-time for the Bears behind K.C. Grandfield, who had 17 assists on Feb. 3, 2007 against Framingham State.

Kikuba, who has reached double figures in assists eight times in his career and twice in the past three games, added 17 points, four steals and four rebounds. The double-double marked his second in the last three games.

Junior Zach Taylor (Quincy, Mass.), who missed Wednesday night's loss to Salem State due to an injury, returned and paced the Bears with 24 points.

Taylor made 10 of 18 shots, hit both of his 3-pointers and had five rebounds and four assists.

Junior Sam Sweeney (Burlington, Vt.) hit three 3-pointers and scored 14 points.

Senior Aidan Rock (Westport, Mass.) scored 12 points to go with six rebounds and four steals while sophomore Jacob Stull (Norwell, Mass.) had nine points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.

Anna Maria was led by junior Logan Talbot (North Brookfield, Mass.) with 21 points and five rebounds.

Sophomore Lucas Miglionico (Dudley, Mass.) scored 14 points, junior Ryan Outlow (Norwich, Conn.) had 13 while sophomore Nolan Serafin (Burrville, R.I.) added 11 rebounds and seven points.

The Bears made 47 percent of their shots and went 10-for-21 on 3-pointers while scoring 25 points off 19 Anna Maria turnovers.

BSU held a 49-28 halftime lead after jumping to a 15-4 lead in the first 4:35 with Rock setting the tone.

After Anna Maria moved within 15-9 and 19-15, BSU went on an 8-2 run to open a 27-17 lead, three Sweeney foul shots capping that spurt.

The Bears were up, 37-26, then scored nine straight points for a 20-point advantage.

Sweeney hit a 3-pointer, Stuff scored four points and Taylor added a layup and BSU had a 21-point advantage midway through.

BSU's largest lead was 65-41 with 14:47 remaining, but the AMCATS closed within 10 later in the half thanks in part to a 10-2 run that included five points by Miglionico.

The Bears were head, 81-71, with 5:09 to play. But a drive by Taylor with 4:25 to go made it 83-71 and a layup by senior Louis Jennings (Walpole, Mass.) made it 85-71.

BSU plays three of its final four regular-season games on the road, starting Wednesday at 7 p.m. in North Adams, Mass., against the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

Anna Maria has a non-conference game Monday at 7 p.m. against Trinity.

Notes: Kikuba is the Bears all-time leaders in assists with 545 and currently leads the program in assists per game at 5.51. He is also third in steals (229) and 15th in scoring (1,362 pts).