Salem State Roundup: Viking women’s basketball falls to Bates in tourney

SALEM – Lynn’s Manise Louinord earned all-tournament team honors and All-America candidate Danielle Jenkins had one of her finest performances in a Salem State uniform, but it wasn’t enough as tournament MVP Val Beckwith led Bates College to a 65-60 win over the Vikings in the finals of the Salem State Women’s Tip-Off Tournament.Louinord had seven points and seven boards in the title game, while Jenkins’ 26 points and 13 rebounds helped the Vikings charge back from a 34-27 halftime deficit to take a 50-49 lead on freshman Amy Barry’s three-pointer.Jenkins added a 3-point play moments later to give the Vikings their biggest lead of the night, but Beckwith responded with a 3-point play of her own to key a 10-2 run by Bates that gave it a 59-55 lead with 2:59 remaining.The Vikings twice closed to within three down the stretch, but Bates converted on its free throws in the final moments to keep SSC at arm’s length. Katie Bielonko had 12 points for Salem, which fell to 1-2 with the loss.The SSC men did find success in the finals of their portion of the Tip-Off Tourney, as Stevie Celestin’s 16 points were enough to give the Vikings a 66-61 win over Bowdoin.The game was tied at 28-28 at the break and 45-45 with 8:30 left before the Polar Bears stuck their nose in front, 55-53, with 3:58 to go. But SSC rallied and took the lead for good on Tristian Shannon’s two free throws with 3:21 left.Senior Dylan Holmes had 12 points to help the SSC cause.In ice hockey, the Vikings got a goal and two assists from Justin Fox, but Division 3 power Norwich had too much power for Salem in a 6-3 win at Kreitzburg Arena on Saturday.