WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior forward Jesse Benoit (Granby, Mass.) scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds and sophomore center Matt Devine (Pembroke, Mass.) posted a double-double (16 points, 14 rebounds) to lead Westfield State University to a 65-58 victory over Bridgewater State University on Saturday, Jan. 29.
The Owls avenged an overtime setback at Bridgewater earlier this season in improving to 3-3 in the MASCAC and 7-12 overall. The Bears are 3-4 and 11-8 overall as they played for the fourth straight game without standout senior guard Judah Jackson (Everett, Mass.). Bridgewater has suffered three straight MASCAC losses (1-3 overall) since Jackson sustained an injury in a victory over Worcester State.
Senior forward Chris Jurkowski (Belchertown, Mass.) was Westfield's other player in double figures with 10 points as the Owls' Big Three frontcourt starters combined for 44 points, 24 rebounds and 11 assists. Jurkowski dished out a game-high six assists.
Bridgewater jumped out to an early 9-4 lead following a 3-point basket by Nathan Miller (New Bedford, Mass.), but Westfield went on a 10-0 run for a 14-9 lead at the 10:09 mark of the first half. Two baskets from both Devine and sophomore guard Eugene Turner (Lynn, Mass.) sparked the spurt.
Westfield took its biggest lead of the first half, 19-11, on a Benoit layup followed by a Benoit free throw a minute later. But the Bears battled back to close with two, 26-24, at halftime.
The teams traded baskets for the first 10 minutes of the second half with the Bears taking their final lead, 35-34, on a layup by Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, Mass.) at the 12:20 mark.
Westfield then regained the lead for good, 37-35, on a 3-point basket by freshman point guard Andrew Morgan (Somerset, N.J.) with 12:02 remaining.
Led by the scoring of Devine, Benoit and Jurkowski, the Owls held nine-point leads several times in the closing minutes of the game, including a 60-51 edge with 1:02 remaining. Westfield canned five free throws in the closing minute to seal the conference victory.
The Owls were 13 for 19 from the foul line while the Bears only converted 9 of 22 free throws. Benoit was 8 for 12 from the charity stripe.
Sophomore guard Anthony Fortes (East Providence, R.I.) was Bridgewater's leading scorer with 13 points. Senior center Samuel Johnson (North Chelmsford, Mass.) finished with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Motta contributed nine points, five rebounds and five steals.