BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Bridgewater State's Rayshon Ward and Joseph Carty combined for 49 points as the Bears opened up MASCAC play with an 82-71 win over the Trailblazers on Wednesday night.

 

Ward scored 22 of his 25 points in the opening half while Carty completed his monster night by pulling down 15 rebounds.

 

The Bears (8-6, 1-0) never trailed as they led 9-7 early on before an 8-0 run extended the lead to double figures. Ward's layup at the 13:18 mark gave Bridgewater a 27-16 lead. MCLA (3-9, 0-2) eventually cut it to just 32-30 after a Mike Demartinis bucket, but BSU once again responded behind Ward and Carty.  BSU outscored MCLA, 19-2, over the next five minutes to take charge and build a 51-32 lead.

 

Adam Conquest led the Trailblazers with 20 points and pulled down 8 rebounds.  Mike Demartinis ended with 13 points, while Keiland Cross and Yearsley ended with 11 and 10 respectively. 

 

The Trailblazers will be back in action on Saturday afternoon, when they host Worcester State.

 

Women's Basketball

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Bridgewater State's Chanelle Melton converted a conventional three-point play with 10 seconds remaining to rally the host Bears past the MCLA Trailblazers, 58-55 

 

The Bears (4-9, 1-0 MASCAC) trailed early, but then rallied in the second quarter and were behind just 30-28 at the half. After three quarters, BSU  held a 41-40 lead, but eventually MCLA opened up 52-47 lead following Sam Gawron's layup with 6:19 remaining. The Bear defense clamped down and hold the Trailblazers to just three points the rest of the way as they clawed their way back in it.

 

Kailyn Aguiar scored on a putback for the Bears with 5:40 left to play and each team went scoreless for the next two minutes until Aguiar scored again, this time off a nice dish from Melton cutting it to 52-51 with still 3:55 left to play.

 

MCLA's Courtney Pingelski, who ended with a game high 18 points, was fouled from beyond the arc on the next possession. She made the first, but missed the next two making it just 53-51. Melton's layup tied the score at 53 all, but there was still two minutes left to play.

 

Mckenzie Robinson converted a steal and the full court layup gave the visitors a 55-53 lead with 1:10 left, but MCLA (4-10, 0-2) didn't score again. Kayla Carter scored on a feed from Melton and once again the teams were knotted at 55 setting up the final minute.

 

After a timeout, Pingelski drove the right baseline but couldn't convert giving the Bears the ball with 27 seconds left.  After their own timeout, the Bears got the ball to Melton in the short left corner. Her baseline drive plus the foul gave the Bears a 58-55 lead with 10 seconds left. MCLA had a desparation attempt from Pingelski, but it was well short and the Bears escaped.

 

Pingelski was 6-for-11 from the field for her 18 points. She made her first five 3-pointers before finishing 5-for-8 behind the arc. Robinson added 11 points, 5 assists, and 5 steals for MCLA. L'Rae Brundige ended with 10 points.

 

MCLA will look to snap their skid on Saturday when it hosts Worcester State.