Westfield, Mass. – Junior forward Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass.) led Westfield State with a game-high 22 points and 19 rebounds as the Owls took down Bridgewater State, 97-57, on a Wednesday night at the Woodward Center. The victory moves the Owls to 13-4 on the year (3-2 in the MASCAC) while the Bears slide to 3-11 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
The Owls mounted a large first-half lead in part to the red-hot shooting of junior JT Thompson (Columbia, S.C.) who led all players in the half with 16 points on 6-7 shooting, connecting on four of five triples. Senior forward Kumar Brown (Enfield, Conn.) added 12 points including a thunderous alley-oop dished out by sophomore Kuany Teng (Manchester, N.H.) to drive the lead up to 23. The Owls put up 59 first-half points, missing the single-half scoring record by just two points.
The Owls would however set a different individual game record as first-year guard Ty Johnson (Plainville, Conn.) set up junior forward Brendan Keaveny (Qunicy, Mass.) for a corner triple to record the Owls 27th assist of the game, setting the school record for assists in a single game (passing the total of 26 assists set in 2019).
Bears' junior Jabray Griffin (Orlando, Fla.) led Bridgewater with 11 points and six rebounds off the bench. Senior Alan Pettway (Worcester, Mass.) and Keyth Key (Springfield, Mass.) each scored ten points.
The Owls shot over 50% from the field (36-71) and from beyond the arc (7-14) while the Bears were held to 35.3% shooting (35.3%) while connecting on just three of 23 attempts from deep. The Owls controlled the glass throughout the game, out-rebounding the Bears 52-33.
Westfield State will return to action next Wednesday as the Owls travel to Fitchburg State for a 7:00 P.M. tip-off. Bridgewater State will return home to face Fitchburg State on Saturday at 3:00 P.M.