Men's Basketball falls to Westfield State, 101-72

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Westfield State University men's basketball team improved to 7-2 on the road with a victory over Bridgewater State University at the Tinsley Center.

Junior Xavier Lewis (Long Island, N.Y.) and sophomore Kenney Rogers (Springfield, Mass.) combined to score 60 points to lead the Owls past the Bears, 101-72, Wednesday night.

Westfield State (12-4 overall), which won the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles last winter, remains tied for first place with Worcester State at 4-1.

The loss ends BSU's two-game winning streak. The Bears are 5-11 and 3-2 in the conference.

BSU held a brief lead early in the game, but Westfield State opened a 49-31 halftime advantage and was never threatened in the final 20 minutes.

Junior Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.) led the Bears with 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting, making two 3-pointers. He also had seven rebounds and three assists.

Junior Zach Taylor (Quincy, Mass.) added 15 points and six rebounds for BSU.

Senior Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) handed out six assists, including the 500th of his career with the Bears. That came on a 3-pointer by Campbell with 5:36 left in the half.

Kikuba now has 502 assists and set the program record last season, breaking the mark of 418 set by Mark Dias in 1986.

Westfield State was led by Lewis, who made 13 of 19 shots to score 33 points and had eight rebounds and four assists.

Rogers added 27 points on 12-for-22 shooting with four rebounds and three assists.

Also in double figures was junior Jason James (Ansonia, Conn.) with 14 points to go with five assists.

Westfield State hit 54 percent of its shots and was only 3-for-12 on 3-pointers while BSU made 39 percent of its shots and went 6-for-21 on 3-pointers.

The Owls outscored the Bears, 68-34, in the paint.

A layup by Campbell 2:37 into the game put the Bears up, 6-5, but the Owls scored the next eight points for a 13-6 lead.

Lewis and James made two field goals each in the run. A 3-pointer by Kikuba with 12:52 to go in the half pulled BSU within 15-12, but the Owls took control after that.

Westfield State outscored BSU, 12-2, in less than three minutes with the Bears getting just a jumper from Taylor.

BSU took only three shots and had a pair of turnovers while Lewis scored nine of the points as the lead went to 27-14.

The Bears were abel to get as close as 10 the rest of the half. A jumper by sophomore A.Z. Allah (Springfield, Mass.) with 6:34 to go widened the Owls' lead to 37-19.

BSU managed just a 3-pointer by Campbell and two foul shots by sophomore Jamaal McConnell (Mattapan, Mass.) in the final four minutes of the half.

The Owls dominated the second half, scoring 52 points and led by as many as 31 at 97-66.

Earlier in the half, BSU was down 85-66, but the Bears were outscored, 12-0, as Westfield State pulled away.

BSU will be on the road Saturday at 2 p.m., facing Framingham State.

Westfield State will travel to Salem State for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday.