WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State men's basketball will look to keep their hot streak going as the Owls take a four-game win streak into the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference semifinals play at Bridgewater State on Friday, Feb. 24 with a 5:30 p.m. tip off at the Tinsley Center.
PLEASE NOTE: The MASCAC Basketball Tournament schedule has changed due to inclement weather today on Thursday, Feb.23. The conference semifinal games originally scheduled for Thursday will now be played on Friday, Feb. 24, with the championship on Sunday, Feb. 26.
Westfield (11-15 overall) wound up the #3 seed in the tournament, losing a tie-breaker against #2 Bridgewater (18-7 overall) in the conference seedings after the two teams tied for second in the regular season standings. The Bears got the benefit of a first-round bye, and the Owls enter with added momentum after an 81-60 win over MCLA in the opening round of the league tournament. The Owls have won eight of their last nine games.
The Owls and Bears appear closely matched, as the two teams both finished 8-4 in the league slate, and split their two meetings, with Bridgewater taking a 91-78 win on their home court in January, and the Owls emerging with an 80-73 win over Bridgewater on February 11.
Westfield was led by grad-student forward Kumar Brown in Tuesday's win, as he scored a career high 23 and grabbed 10 rebounds. Senior guard JT Thompson added 24. He was a key factor in the Owls loss at BSU, scoring 26 points in the first meeting, but was limited to 5 points in 13 minutes of play in the second matchup.
Ultimately, the Owls fortunes may swing with the play of senior forward Brendon Hamilton, who's averaged 15.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in the two matchups. Hamilton is inching up the school's career records board in multiple categories. Closing out his third season of play (with 2020-21 canceled by the Covid Pandemic) Hamilton has 923 career points (25th all time at Westfield), 808 career rebounds (third), and 130 career blocks (third) for the Owls.
Westfield first-year forward Lance Lennon could be a wildcard. He saw action in only 16 games this season, but produced a career best 11 points in the second matchup between the two teams.
Bridgewater guard Dante Kikuba exploded for 31 points in the matchup at Westfield on February 11. For the season, the Bears have been led by 6-9 graduate transfer Emerson Halbleib, who is scoring 14.3 points and grabbing 10.2 rebounds per game. Kikuba sits second at 13.5 points per game, and Justin Parsons averages 9.9 points per game.
Livestream coverage and live stats of the game will be available with links at WestfieldStateOwls.com, or you can watch on Roku, AppleTV and Amazon Prime on the MASCAC.tv streaming channel.
The winner of this gam earns a trip to the league finals, and will face the winner of #1 Worcester State and #5 Fitchburg State on Sunday, with the game being played at the site of the highest remaining seed.