Vikings Fall to Bears on Road

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Salem State men's basketball looked to get back in the win column this afternoon as they traveled to Bridgewater State University to take on the Bears for a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) matchup. After 40 minutes of action the Bears took the 90-69 victory to drop the Vikings to 9-9 on the season and 3-4 in conference play.

The Vikings were led by L.J. Hicks (Gardner, Mass.) who had 18 points, seven rebounds, and three assists while Michael Makiej (Andover, Mass.) and Wil Martinez (Revere, Mass.) chipped in with 13 points and 10 points, respectively, in the effort.

On the other side, Precious Okuh (Brockton, Mass.) netted a game-high 20 points while Zach Taylor (Quincy, Mass.) added 17 of his own in the victory.

After two minutes of little action to start the game, the Bears found their footing and went on a 14-0 run to establish a double-digit lead before Hicks stopped the bleeding, giving the home team the 19-6 lead. With less than twelve minutes remaining in the half, the Vikings strung together a couple unanswered baskets due to the aggressive play of Hicks, however, Okoh went on a 5-0 run of his own to put the Bears ahead 16 (27-11) and force the Vikings to call a timeout. The Bears would still hold the 16-point edge until a Hicks' triple made it a 13-point game (39-24) with 4:40 to play in the half. In the final three minutes of the first, the Bears outscored the Vikings 11-3 to take the 53-31 advantage heading into the break.

Both teams came out of the half sluggish, notching only one field goal apiece after four and a half minutes of play. At the 15-minute mark Makiej would take over the game, scoring eight unanswered points to make it a 58-42 game with just over 12 minutes remaining. The Bears would quicky reclaim their 20-point cushion and then exchange baskets with Salem over the next six minutes before finding their largest lead of the second half, 83-60, with just over four minutes to play. At the 3-minute mark Liam Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) would make it a 19-point game but that would be as close as the Vikings would get as the Bears went on to take the 90-69 victory over the Vikings.

The Vikings remain on the road as they travel to Quincy, Massachusetts on Wednesday, January 31 to face the Lions of Eastern Nazarene College for their final non-conference matchup of the season. Tipoff is at 7 p.m..