Salem improves to 21-2 on the season and a perfect 11-0 in the MASCAC as the Vikings have now won 13 straight games. Bridgewater falls to 16-7 overall and 8-3 in MASCAC play. The Bears have already sewn up the second seed in next week’s MASCAC Tournament as both Salem and Bridgewater have a first round bye.
Senior forward Eric Downie (Medford, MA) scored 20 points and sophomore center Dylan Holmes (Groton, MA) posted a double-double with 17 pints and 10 rebounds as the Vikings had five players finish in double figures.
Trailing 24-16, Salem went on a 9-1 run to tie the game up, 25-25, with 4:35 remaining in the opening stanza. With the score tied, 28-28, the Vikings scored 9 of the final 12 points of the half as they headed to the locker room with a 37-31 lead.
Salem built their biggest advantage of the game at 13 points, 58-45, with 11:57 left in the second half, but a 12-2 Bridgewater State run cut the deficit to just three points at 60-57. Bridgewater had the ball and chance to pull even closer, but a costly turnover stopped the Bears’ momentum and Salem retook control of the game from that point on.
The Vikings shot 50% (28-for-56) from the floor, including an impressive 62% (16-for-26) shooting performance in the second half. The big difference in the game came at the free throw line as BSC struggled all game long connecting on just 11 of 24 foul shots. Salem on the other hand finished 19 for 24 from the charity stripe.
Sophomore forward Roland Millien (Stoughton, MA) had a big game for BSC as he scored 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting while also pulling down 10 rebounds for his team-leading eighth double-double of the season. Senior forward Derek Thompson (Hyannis, MA) also posted a double-double as he registered 15 points and 10 rebounds to go along with 7 assists and 2 blocks. Junior guard Tom Cuddihy (Scituate, MA) led all players with 21 points as he now has 1,057 for his career.
Junior guard Marquis Victor (Lawrence, MA), senior forward Brandon McCombs (Springfield, MA) and junior guard Ramon Cruz (Worcester, MA) were the other Salem players to score in double figures. Victor finished with 16 points, 13 of which came in the second half, while McCombs and Cruz added 10 points apiece. Freshman point guard Nick Tokarski (Springfield, MA) also played well for the Vikings as he dished out 7 assists and registered 4 steals including the big momentum changing steal with Salem clinging to the 60-57 lead.
The regular season schedule concludes on Saturday as the Bears host Fitchburg State at 7 o’clock, while Salem is home against Worcester State beginning at 2.