With the win, BSC improves to 12-8 on the season and 6-3 in the MASCAC while MCLA falls to 2-19 overall and 0-8 in conference play. Bridgewater remains in third place, a game behind first place Westfield State (7-2) and a half game back of Salem State (6-2), in the MASCAC standings.
Bridgewater took a 49-30 edge into the half and saw the lead balloon to as much as 40 points before settling for the 97-62 win. The Bears shot 51% (38-for-74) from the floor, turned the ball over only six times, and dominated the boards outrebounding MCLA by a margin of 43 to 29 with an 18-8 edge on the offensive glass.
Thompson, who connected on 8 of 13 field goals attempts, also registered 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots to go along with his game-high 21 points. Cuddihy scored 16 of his 19 points in the first half and hit on 5 of 10 shots from beyond the three-point arc.
Senior forward David Rukstalis (Norwood, MA) had a nice all-around game finishing with 11 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Rukstalis moved past John McSharry into 11th place on the Bears all-time scoring list as he now has 1,232 points in his career at BSC. McSharry recorded 1,230 points from 1971 to 1975.
Junior guard Adam Rose (Harwich, MA) and freshman forward Bryan Grozier (Wellfleet, MA) also placed in double figures for the Bears as they came off the bench to score 11 and 10 points respectively.
Senior guards JP Quintal (Queensbury, NY) and Adam Garner (North Adams, MA) led the way for the Trailblazers. Quintal scored 14 points and pulled down 4 rebounds, while Garner added 10 points and 4 boards.
The Bears return to the hardwood on Saturday afternoon at 2 PM as BSC hosts Mitchell College in a non-conference matchup. Mass. College is also back in action on Saturday afternoon as the Trailblazers travel to Worcester State College for a 4 o’clock tip-off.
Newspaper Box Score Mass. College of Liberal Arts vs Bridgewater State College 02/07/06 7:30 PM at Bridgewater, MA (Tinsley Center) BRIDGEWATER STATE COLLEGE 97, MASS. COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS 62 MASS. COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS 2-19 (0-8) JP Quintal 6-12 0-0 14; Adam Garner 4-12 0-0 10; Brandon Pender 3-5 3-4 9; Thad Broughton 3-11 3-4 9; Steve Abeillie 2-3 4-5 8; Robert Malloy 3-5 0-0 6; Brian Phillips 0-2 2-2 2; Mike Harmon 1-1 0-2 2; Mike Callahan 1-2 0-2 2; Henry Schrader 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-53 12-19 62. BRIDGEWATER STATE COLLEGE 12-8 (6-3) Derek Thompson 8-13 5-10 21; Tom Cuddihy 7-13 0-0 19; David Rukstalis 5-10 0-0 11; Adam Rose 5-7 0-0 11; Bryan Grozier 5-9 0-0 10; Jesse Teixeira 3-6 0-0 6; Tyler Lang 0-2 4-5 4; Roland Millien 2-3 0-0 4; Ryan Devereaux 1-4 0-0 3; Matt Stevens 0-0 3-4 3; Cliff Furtado 1-2 0-0 3; Brandon George 1-4 0-0 2; Damian Shakespeare 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 38-74 12-19 97. Mass. College of Liberal Arts. 30 32 - 62 Bridgewater State College..... 49 48 - 97 3-point goals-Mass. College of Liberal Arts 4-15 (JP Quintal 2-4; Adam Garner 2-5; Thad Broughton 0-4; Robert Malloy 0-1; Brian Phillips 0-1), Bridgewater State College 9-19 (Tom Cuddihy 5-10; Ryan Devereaux 1-3; Adam Rose 1-2; Cliff Furtado 1-2; David Rukstalis 1-1; Tyler Lang 0-1). Fouled out--Mass. College of Liberal Arts-None, Bridgewater State College-None. Rebounds-Mass. College of Liberal Arts 29 (Brandon Pender 5), Bridgewater State College 43 (Tyler Lang 8). Assists-Mass. College of Liberal Arts 11 (Brian Phillips 5), Bridgewater State College 28 (David Rukstalis 6). Total fouls-Mass. College of Liberal Arts 16, Bridgewater State College 19. A-225