Buzzer Beater Lifts Bridgewater State over Men's Basketball

BOSTON, Mass. – A three pointer from Alex Gonzalez as the buzzer sounded lifted the Bridgewater State University men's basketball team past Wentworth Institute of Technology, 82-79, in non-conference action Saturday afternoon.

With the win the Bears improve to 4-2 on the season while the Leopards fall to 1-3.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• After trailing 2-0 to start the game, Wentworth went on an 8-0 run as Tyler Stewart made a pair of jumpers and Russell Dolabany hit a three and hit one of two free throws. Bridgewater State jumped back in the game and pulled to within one (8-7) on a Samuel Omisore jumper with 17:08 left in the half. Two free throws and a tip-in from Stewart pushed the lead back to five and, after a TJ Williams jumper, a Jack Connell layup gave the hosts a five-point lead.
• The Bears once again pulled back within one on an Abdoul Bah layup but an 8-0 run capped off by a three from Connell gave the Black & Gold a 22-13 lead with 10:34 to play. Wentworth led 29-21 after a Connell layup with 5:55 left before back-to-back threes from Zach Taylor and Sam Sweeney made it 29-27 with 4:52 left. With 55 seconds left, a Stweart layup made it 44-36 before Taylor hit consecutive jumpers to cut the lead to 44-40 at the break.
• A minute and 52 seconds into the second half, Nicolas Bontemps made a layup to pull the Bears within a point. A three from Connell gave Wentworth a 48-44 lead and, after a three-pointer from Sweeney, Dolabany hit a three and Stewart followed with a tip in and a pair of free throws to give the Leopards a 47-48 lead.
• Bridgewater State went on a 7-0 run, slashing the lead to 57-55 and, after Stewart and Gonzalez traded jumpers Dolabany knocked down a three, giving Wentworth a 62-57 advantage with 9:20 left. The Bears used a 15-4 run and took their first lead since the start of the contest when Steven Morrell made a layup and upped the advantage to 72-66 on a Taylor layup with 3:52 left. A layup from Stewart on the ensuing possession ended the run but two free throws from Bontemps gave Bridgewater a 74-68 edge with 3:11 left.
• Stewart scored the next six Wentworth points, with four coming around a three pointer from Gonzalez and found the Black & Gold trailing, 77-74, with 1:41 left. Taylor stretched the lead to five (79-74) with 1:17 left before Connell hit a pair of free throws and, after a turnover, Connell knocked down three free throws with 25 seconds left after getting fouled while taking a three pointer which tied the game at 79-all.
• Bridgewater State brought the ball into the front court and called time out. Out of the time out, the Bears worked the ball around until Bontemps found Gonzalez in the right corner, whose three pointer found the net as the buzzer sounded.
• Taylor finished with 20 points on 9-for-15 shooting while Sweeney added 12 points. Bontemps grabbed eight rebounds.
• Stewart led all scorers with 28 points; 18 of which came in the second half. He also had 10 rebounds for a double-double. Dolabany knocked down a career-high 19 points, going 6-for-10 form the floor (6-for-9 from behind the arc. Connell chipped in with 17 points and six assists. Wentworth had 28 points off 20 Bridgewater State turnovers.

ALL-TIME SERIES:

• Today was the 13th all-time meeting between the two teams and the first since February 29, 2012.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth opens Conference of New England play on Wednesday, December 4, at Roger Williams.

For the latest on Wentworth Athletics, follow the Leopards via social media on "X," Facebook and Instagram.