By Jim Fenton
WESTFIELD, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team earned its most impressive victory of the season on Saturday afternoon.
The Bears edged past Westfield State University, 82-79, to stop the Owls' eight-game winning streak.
Westfield State (14-4) was handed its first loss in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference after opening 4-0. The Owls had not lost since falling to Amherst College in a non-conference game on Dec. 5.
BSU (7-11) improved to 2-4 at the midway point of the MASCAC schedule. The Bears have won back-to-back games for the first time since opening the season with a three-game winning streak.
BSU led by 12 points early in the second half, then fell behind by six with less than 12 minutes remaining before overtaking the Owls down the stretch.
Senior TJ Williams (Jupiter, Fla.) led BSU with 22 points, hitting four 3-pointers, to go with seven rebounds and three assists.
Sophomore Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.) added 20 points with three 3-pointers and grabbed eight rebounds.
Campbell, who missed 10 games with an injury, was playing his third game since returning to the lineup. He scored 18 of his points in the second half.
Junior Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) recorded his team-leading third double-double of the season and ninth of his career, tallying 11 points and 10 assists to go along with five rebounds. Kikuba now has 972 points in his career as he is closing in on the 1,000-point milestone. Kikuba also increased his career assist total to 391. He is just 27 assists shy of the Bears' all-time mark of 418 held by Mark Dias (1982-86).
Sophomore Sam Sweeney (Burlington, Vt.) hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points while junior Samuel Omisore (Boston, Mass.) had 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
Westfield State had four players in double figures with freshman Kenneth Rogers Jr. (Springfield, Mass.) getting 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Senior Lid Moreland (Bridgeport, Conn.) also scored 20 points and senior Kobe Parker (Chicopee, Mass.) added 12 points and six rebounds and senior Timmy Jacobus (Willemstad, Curacao) scored 10 points.
BSU held a 44-32 halftime lead after making 47 percent of its shots in the first 20 minutes.
The Bears held a 50-39 lead with 17:50 to go on a Campbell layup, but the Owls scored 18 straight points to open a 57-51 lead with 11:27 remaining.
BSU did not score after a Campbell foul shot with 16:49 left made it 51-41 until a 3-pointer by Williams with 10:58 to go.
The Bears missed eight shots in a row and turned the ball over five times, allowing the Owls to take the lead.
After a Moreland layup put Westfield State up, 57-51, Williams hit three foul shots and Omisore made a jumper to get BSU within 57-56 with 10:32 to play.
Trailing, 64-61, the Bears got a 3-pointer by Campbell to make it 64-64 with 7:19 to go.
Another 3-pointer by Campbell put BSU up, 67-66, with 6:54 to play. He also made a layup to give the Bears a 69-67 lead.
Williams hit a layup following a steal by Kikuba and Campbell hit a 3-pointer for a 74-67 BSU lead with 5:37 left.
Campbell had 11 points in that 18-5 run that turned a six-point Bears' deficit into a seven-point advantage.
Westfield State cut the deficit to 74-72, but a Williams' 3-pointer made it 77-72 with 2:19 left.
Campbell made a pair of foul shots for a 79-74 lead with 50 seconds to go and a Moreland foul shot and a layup by Parker moved Westfield State within 79-77 with 36 seconds left.
Following a missed BSU foul shot, Westfield State was hit with a technical foul after calling a timeout when it had none remaining.
Kikuba made two foul shots with 27 seconds to go for an 81-77 lead and after two foul shots by the Owls' freshman A.Z. Allah (Springfield, Mass.), Kikuba put BSU up, 82-79, with 15 seconds left.
Westfield State then missed a top-of-the-key 3-pointer and the Bears grabbed an offensive rebound after missing two foul shots before the final buzzer.
BSU trailed, 9-5, in the opening minutes then opened a 23-12 lead on a 3-pointer by Sweeney with 11:12 before the half.
Westfield State was within 31-28, but BSU finished the half on a 13-4 run that was capped by eight points by Williams in the final 46 seconds. He had a pair of 3-pointers and made a layup at the buzzer.
BSU made 14 of 29 shots from 3-point range and had a 47-32 edge in rebounds.
The Bears had 22 turnovers that led to 24 points for the Owls and missed 10 of 22 foul shots.
BSU plays its final non-conference game on Tuesday at 7 p.m., hosting Trinity College at the Tinsley Center. Trinity entered Saturday with a 15-2 record.
The Bears begin the second half of the MASCAC season Saturday at noon at Salem State University.
Westfield State is idle until Wednesday at 5 p.m. when it travels to Salem State. The teams are tied for first place in the MASCAC.