WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior forward Brendan Keaveny (Quincy, Mass.) scored a team-high 19 points as the Owls outscored Bridgewater State by 11 points in the second half to surge past the Bears 80-73 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass. on Saturday afternoon.
During halftime of the game, Westfield State Athletics recognized Black History Month by welcoming a few student-athletes to center court along with the men's basketball team and President Dr. Linda Thompson in commemoration of our hardworking, black student-athletes.
The Owls move a half a game ahead of Bridgewater State in the conference standings as Westfield stands at 8-15 overall and 7-4 in the conference after the victory. The Owls have one conference game remaining this season. Bridgewater drops to 16-7 on the season and 6-4 in the MASCAC with two conference games remaining.
Westfield State was forced to come from behind after Bridgewater led for entirety of the first half. The Bears pulled out to an early six-point lead midway through the first half after a pair of threes from Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) and Peyton Priest (Papillion, NE) put the Bears in front 20-14 with 10:59 remaining in the period.
The Bears eventually pushed the lead up to as much as eight in the final five minutes of the game, but a Gerry McManus (Hudson, Mass.) triple and a steal and flush from Keaveny drew the Owls within three points.
Keaveny closed the half with a pair of three pointers to answer buckets from the Bears as the Owls entered halftime down 38-34. Keaveny piled up 14 first-half points including four threes. Kikuba was the leading scorer in the half for either side, recording 16 points and three steals.
In the second half, after consecutive makes for Bridgewater to drive the lead up to eight points, the Owls ripped off a 9-0 run, capped off by a pair of Lance Lennon (Reading, Penn.) free throws to give Westfield their first lead of the game at 43-42 with 15:32 left in the game.
Both teams traded baskets throughout the middle of the period until Westfield attempted to distance themselves. Kobe Parker (Chicopee, Mass.) connected on a triple to put the Owls up four, then a Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass.) layup, a Keaveny three and then another Parker basket completed a 10-2 scoring run to give Westfield a 59-50 advantage, their largest lead of the day.
After a Bridgewater timeout, the Bears scored six-straight points of their own with five coming from Louis Jennings (Walpole, Mass.), trimming the Owls lead to three with 8:33 left in regulation. Bridgewater would pull the game within one point on multiple different occasions, each after made shots from Kikuba.
With the Owls up one, Kumar Brown (Enfield, Conn.) saved an offensive possession, grabbing a rebound and laying it back in to make it a 70-67 Owls lead. McManus converted two makes at the charity stripe, then Hamilton powered in layups on consecutive possessions to drive the Owls lead to six points with 1:23 left in the game.
Free throw shooting from JT Thompson (Columbia, S.C.) and McManus would ice the game for the Owls, picking up a victory in a matchup between two of the top three teams in the conference.
Hamilton (14 points), Lennon (11 points), and Brown (10 points) joined Keaveny as double-figure scorers for the Owls. Hamilton picked up a double-double after tallying a game-high 13 rebounds. McManus added six assists.
Kikuba was relentless throughout the contest for the Bears, pouring in 31 points, six rebounds, and five steals. Jennings registered 21 points as the two combined for 52 of the Bears 73 points.
The Owls finished the contest by shooting 47.5% (28-59) from the floor with the Bears a notch below at 43.8% (28-64).
Westfield State has two games remaining in the regular season and will host a non-conference game on Wednesday at home against Mitchell at 7:00 P.M. which will also be senior night. Their final regular season conference game will be next Saturday on the road as the Owls face Fitchburg State. Bridgewater State will return home to host Fitchburg State on Wednesday at 5:30 P.M.