Posted: Dec 04, 2012
AMCATS Take Down Bears, 81-77
Bridgewater St.
(3-3)
77
Anna Maria
(2-4 (0-1 GNAC))
81
| 2nd - 00:00 | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bridgewater St. (3-3) | 29 | 48 | 77 |
|
Anna Maria (2-4 (0-1 GNAC)) | 37 | 44 | 81 |
PAXTON, Mass. – The Anna Maria College men's basketball team had three players finish in double figures during an 81-77 victory over Bridgewater State University in a non-conference matchup at The Fuller Activities Center on Tuesday night. The AMCATS earned their second win of the season and improve to 2-4, while the Bears drop to 3-3 on the season.
The AMCATS were paced by senior Anthony Click (Springfield, Mass.) who led all players with 20 points and four assists, while also grabbing six rebounds and three steals. Click knocked down 7-of-9 shots from the floor while going 6-for-7 from the charity stripe. Senior Javier Bristol (Haverhill, Mass.) finished with 19 points, on 8-of-9 shooting, and a game-high 9 rebounds. Junior Joey Barillo (Dania Beach, Fla) added 17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and one steal.
Bridgewater was led by sophomore Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.) who had 15 points and 9 rebounds while guard Brendan Monteiro (Brockton, Mass.) scored a team-high 16 points in the loss. Senior Brendan McDonald (Dorchester, Mass.) chipped-in with 10 points off the bench.
The first half was a closely contested back-and-forth battle. The score was knotted at 19 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the period when Anna Maria went on a 9-0 run, including 5 points from Barillo. The Bears battled back and at the 4:54 mark BSU's Michael Lofton jumper from the corner cut the lead to one point at 28-27. Anna Maria turned up the defense late in the first stanza causing four Bridgewater turnovers and outscoring the Bears 9-1 to take a 37-29 advantage into the locker room.
AMC's Bristol and BSU's Monteiro led all players with 9 points during the period. Anna Maria held the shooting advantage (50% to 33%) and rebounding edge (23-19).
The Bears scored first out of the blocks in the second half. Guard Brendan Monteiro notched a trey from the corner to cut the lead to five points 37-32 just a minute in. However, the AMCATS responded with a mammoth 19-4 run to take a 56-36 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the game. Post grad Brad Peterson (North Kingstown, RI), Bristol and Barillo each added 4 points during the run.
The Bears were able to shave 9 points off the lead but the AMCATS still led by 11 (77-66) with 2:50 remaining in the game. BSU's Michael Lofton and Justin Clark (Yarmouthport, Mass.) next combined for nine unanswered Bridgewater points over a 1:31 span to tie the game at 77 all with 1:24 to play.
On Anna Maria's next possession guard Anthony Click buried a two pointer, while Bristol grabbed the most important defensive rebound on the night on Bridgewater's attempt to tie the game. A pair of Click free throws sealed the hard fought victory for Anna Maria.
Anna Maria returns to action on Thursday when they travel to Johnson and Wales University for a 7pm GNAC match-up.
