BOSTON, Mass. – Trailing by as much as 23 points, men's basketball nearly pulled off one of the biggest comebacks of the season, but unfortunately fell to just short in the end as the Bears of Bridgewater State University earned a 65-58 win Thursday evening in the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.

With Thursday's loss, the Beacons fell to 9-5, while the Bears improved to 9-6.  All-time the Beacons still lead the series, but with Thursday's loss they have now dropped 10 of the last 12 meetings between the two rivals.

After a dismal first half, in which the Bears went into the break with a 45-27 lead, the Beacons offense came roaring back in the second.  Following a pair of Bridgewater field goals, UMass went on a 14-1 run to make it a 13-point game with 14:16 left in the contest.  Senior Carl Joseph (Brockton, Mass.) proved to be the spark plug in the Beacons early run scoring eight of UMass' 14 points.

Bridgewater would maintain their solid lead for the next three minutes, before going cold offensively.  This would give the Beacons the opportunity they needed as they cut the Bears then 19-point lead to four with less than five minutes to play. 

A lay-up from Justin Clark made it a two-possession game, but with a lay-up from Mike Campbell (Boston, Mass.) and a huge 3-pointer by Gregory Young (Dorchester, Mass.), the Beacons found themselves trailing by one with 2:11 left to play. 

With their backs up against the wall, the Bears managed to hang onto their very slim lead, by scoring the final six points of the contest to earn the victory.

Joseph and Young each scored a game-high 16 points, while Karl Agenor (Dorchester, Mass.) dropped in 12 points, while also collecting a team-best nine rebounds.  Of Joseph's 16 points, nine came in the final 20 minutes. 

For the Bears Michael Lofton recorded the games only double-double with his 16 points and 14 rebounds.  He would also record five assists, two blocks, and three steals in 35 minutes of action.  Justin Clark finished with 14, and Kyle Gibson posted 10 to help carry the Bears to the victory.

On the night the two teams were nearly even in almost every category, but it was the Bears first half 54.8 field goal percentage that proved to be the difference in the end.  From the field Bridgewater was a combined 17-for-31, 2-for-6 from behind the arc through the first 20 minutes of play.  UMass shot 42.3% from the floor, but was 0-for-5 from distance in the opening frame. 

The Bears held a slim +2 advantage on the glass (34-32) on the night, but it was the Beacons who led the night in the blocks and assists columns with 15 and four respectively.

The Beacons return to action on Saturday when they travel to Western Connecticut State University for a 3 p.m. Little East Conference game.