After an evenly played first half which saw the score knotted at 34-34, Bridgewater seemed to play from behind for most of the second half until the dramatic final two minutes.
Trailing 62-61 with less than a minute and half to go, senior guard Brian Adamczyk (Chicopee, MA) came up with a big steal and broke in for an easy layup to give Bridgewater the 63-62 lead with 1:11 remaining on the clock. After a defensive stand, BSC got the ball back and senior center Tim Ryan (Carver, MA) came up with a big offensive rebound which forced Westfield to foul. Adamczyk missed the front end of a one-on-one, but Ryan was there once again with yet another offensive board. The Owls sent Ryan to the charity stripe and he responded by sinking both free throws to put BSC up 65-62 with 15.6 second left. After a missed three pointer, junior Cliff Furtado (Fall River, MA) iced the game with a pair of free throws to give the Bears the 67-62 victory.
Furtado led the way for Bridgewater State with 17 points, while senior Peter Santos (Fairhaven, MA) and freshman Tom Cuddihy (Scituate, MA) finished in double figures as well with 14 points and 11 points respectively. But it was the play of Ryan on the boards which helped BSC to ultimately pull out the win. He finished with a career-high 16 rebounds, 8 of those coming off the offensive glass.
Westfield forward Vaso Jaukovic (Montenegro) led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting. He also pulled down 7 rebounds, and 15 of his 20 points came in the first half.
The MASCAC schedule resumes on Saturday for the Bears as they travel to Framingham State College for a three o’clock game with the Rams. Westfield State returns home for a Saturday afternoon game with Worcester State.
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Newspaper Box Score Westfield State vs Bridgewater State 01/11/05 8:00 PM at Bridgewater, MA BRIDGEWATER STATE 67, WESTFIELD STATE 62 WESTFIELD STATE (3-6, 0-1)) Vaso Jaukovic 9-14 2-4 20; Tony Collier 2-6 6-8 11; Ricky Ogboin 3-4 3-4 9; James Ogbunize 3-6 2-3 8; Steve Martins 1-2 2-3 4; Gavin Illangakoon 1-7 2-3 4; Mike Jurkowski 2-5 0-0 4; Chad Misiuk 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 22-46 17-25 62. BRIDGEWATER STATE (6-6, 1-0) Cliff Furtado 7-12 2-2 17; Peter Santos 6-16 0-2 14; Tom Cuddihy 5-12 0-0 11; Matt Badiali 3-8 1-1 9; Brian Adamczyk 2-3 4-5 8; Tim Ryan 0-3 4-4 4; Mike Rondeau 1-4 2-2 4; David Rukstalis 0-3 0-0 0; Matt Schnider 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 13-16 67. Westfield State ......... 34 28 - 62 Bridgewater State ..... 34 33 - 67 3-point goals-Westfield State 1-8 (Tony Collier 1-2; Ricky Ogboin 0-1; Steve Martins 0-1; Gavin Illangakoon 0-1; Chad Misiuk 0-1; Vaso Jaukovic 0-2), Bridgewater State 6-19 (Matt Badiali 2-4; Peter Santos 2-6; Tom Cuddihy 1-6; Cliff Furtado 1-3). Fouled out--Westfield State-None, Bridgewater State-None. Rebounds-Westfield State 32 (Vaso Jaukovic 7), Bridgewater State 34 (Tim Ryan 16). Assists-Westfield State 13 (Tony Collier 4), Bridgewater State 15 (Matt Schnider 4). Total fouls-Westfield State 16, Bridgewater State 19. A-350