COLCHESTER, VT – The Bears men's basketball team took to the court at the Ross Sports Center on Saturday for the Opening Round of the NCAA East Region Tournament and suffered a, 75-70 loss at the hands of the #3 seeded, Southern New Hampshire University. Bloomfield, who entered the tournament with the #6 seed, concluded their 2023-24 season with a record of 21-10. The Penmen improved their record to 22-10 and advanced to semifinal round of the regional tourney held on the campus of Saint Michael's College. 

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
·      Izaiah Poole netted a career-high performance with 25 points (7-18 FG, 3-6 3PT, 8-8 FT), 4 boards, an assist and a block
·      Starrell Hearns got his third start of the year and scored 15 points (6-13 FG, 2-6 3PT, 1-1 FT) and five rebounds
·      Zamarion Singleton had 12 points points (3-8 FG, 6-6 FT) to go along with 7 rebounds 
 
KEY MOMENTS
·      The quaterfinals opened up with a slight 7-5 lead after a Poole 3-pointer less than three minutes into the contest. SNHU responded with a 10-0 spurt that put the #6 seed behind for the rest of the half. 
·      After being down by ten (25-15) with 9:41 on the clock, Bloomfield used another three-pointer from Poole to cap a 7-0 run and pull to within, 25-22. By the end of the first half, the #3 seed's lead was just one (37-36) after an Edward Ngene freethrow closed out scoring for the period. 
·      The Bears briefly grabbed a, 42-40 edge at the beginning of the 2^nd frame but SNHU quickly responded with a 7-point burst with 14:37 on the clock and Bloomfield never saw a lead again. 
·      Poole hit a jumper in the paint with 6:43 to go that made it, 57-54 but that was as close as his team would get as the Penmen held on down the stretch to advance to the next round.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
·      Ngene ended the day with a team-high, 9 rebounds and 1 blocked shot  
·      Marcus Bucknall chipped in 7 points (2-5 FG, 1-2 3PT, 2-2 FT) and 3 boards
·      Al Fatir Connor added 6 points (3-9 FG) 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals

• Southern New Hampshire outshot Bloomfield, 40.3 percent (25-62) to 33.8 percent (22-65), including 33.3 percent (12-36) to 30 percent (6-20) from long range.
• The Bears were plus-7 at the line and shot it better, 90.9 percent (20-22) to 72.2 percent (13-18).
• The Bears captured the glass (44-38) and the paint (30-22), scored more second chance points (7-4) and received more scoring from their bench (13-12) while the Penmen saw an edge in points off turnovers (11-7) and on the fast break (7-6), and featured a better assist-to-turnover ratio (17/11-10/13),

 
Bloomfield ends their season winners of 14 of-their-last 18 games which included, 5-game and 7-game winstreaks. 



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