Bears Hold Owls at Bay, 81-75

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Angel Price-Espada led Westfield State with 20 points, but he was the lone Owl to score in double figures as Bridgewater State moved into sole possession of second place with an 81-75 win over the Owls on Saturday afternoon at the Tinsley Center.

BSU grabbed the lead for good with 7:29 left in the first half, was in front by as many as 15 points in the second half and held off a late charge by the Owls.

The Bears (8-10) are now 4-2 in the MASCAC, trailing only defending champion Worcester State University (5-0). Westfield State (12-6) is in a three-way tie
for third place with Salem State University and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts at 3-2.

"Obviously, this was a huge win,'' said BSU coach Matt McLaughlin, whose team is idle until next Saturday. "They're a really good team.

It's huge, and now we're riding into a bye, so we needed that. Recharge, regroup, get healthy and get right back into it Saturday.''

 Precious Okoh (Brockton, Mass.) was the game's leading scorer with 24 points with 11 rebounds, seven assists, two assists and two blocks while
playing all 40 minutes.

  Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) added 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting, including three 3-pointers, and had five rebounds, four assists and three
steals.

  Zach Taylor (Quincy, Mass.) had 12 points and nine rebounds while  Louis Jennings (Walpole, Mass.) chipped in with 10 points and Emerson
Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots.

Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass.) had 16 rebounds, four steals and three blocks for the Owls. Doug Alves added nine points and Dom Strother had eight points and 10 rebounds.

The Owls, who eliminated BSU from the MASCAC tournament in the semifinal round last season, opened the game with an 8-2 run, but Okoh (15) and Kikuba
(10) combined for 25 first-half points to turn things in the Bears' favor.

BSU was in front, 46-32, at the break after ending the first halfon a 19-6 run in six minutes. Jennings had eight points, Taylor six and Okoh five to provide
the offense.

"I thought that was huge,'' said McLaughlin. "That was a make or break. I thought the way we rode into halftime set us on a positive trajectory to continue on. It set the tone and gave us a little breathing room and a gap to work with.''

The Bears had a 51-36 lead with 16:15 to go on a Taylor layup and they were in front, 60-45, midway through the second half after a layup by Okoh.

A Kikuba 3-pointer had BSU up, 69-55, with 7:36 to go, but a 7-2 spurt by the Owls cut the lead under double digits at 71-62 with 4:32 remaining
on a layup by Kobe Parker (Chicopee, Mass.).

Kikuba converted a layup with 1:22 left for an 80-70 BSU lead, but Jerome Stephens (Boston, Mass.) made two foul shots and Kuany Teng (Manchester, N.H.) hit a 3-pointer, reducing the margin to 80-75 with 23 seconds left. That was as close asthe Owls would get as Kikuba finished it off with a late foul shot.

BSU limited Westfield State to 39 percent shooting, including 9-for-31 from 3-point range.  

"I think Westfield is unique because they provide a different matchuppersonnel challenge,'' said McLaughlin. "They're long and they can all shoot
and all attack.''

After having a bye on Wednesday, the Bears start the second half of the MASCAC season by hosting Salem State on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Bears defeated
the Vikings on Jan. 3, 96-82.

Westfield State will host Salem State on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

-- portions of release courtesy BSU sports info/Jim Fenton