Men's Basketball Falls to Westfield State,106-88

By Jim Fenton

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Westfield State University sophomore Kenney Rogers (Springfield, Mass.) put on a sensational offensive display against the Bridgewater State University men's basketball team Saturday afternoon.

Rogers scored a school-record 52 points, 32 of them coming in the second half, to lead the Owls to a 106-88 victory over the Bears. He broke the 57-year old school record of 50 points set by Ray Glynn in a 1969 game vs Nichols College.

Rogers made 20 of 37 shots in 38 minutes and was 4-for-11 on 3-pointers while adding eight foul shots. The second leading scorer (20.0 ppg) in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletics Conference also had 12 rebounds.

The first-place Owls improved to 10-2 in the conference and are 18-5 overall following their fourth straight win.

BSU (7-16) fell to 5-7 in the MASCAC and has dropped five of its last six games. The Bears allowed 100 points or more for the ninth time this season.

Westfield State swept the season series after winning at the Tinsley Center, 101-72, on Jan. 21. Rogers scored 27 points in that victory.

BSU senior Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) scored 18 points, hitting three 3-pointers, and added nine assists and nine rebounds as he came within an assist and a rebound of a triple-double.

Sophomore Jamaal McConnell (Mattapan, Mass.) scored a career-high 15 points to go with five rebounds and two blocked shots.

Junior Sam Sweeney (Burlington, Vt.) also scored 15 with three 3-pointers while sophomore Jacob Stull (Norwell, Mass.) added a career-best 14 points as well as six rebounds.

Westfield State's starting five acounted for 105 of the 106 points against the Bears.

Sophomore Joe Thomson (Sunderland, Mass.) had 18 points and 19 rebounds and went 10-for-13 at the foul line.

Junior Jason James (Ansonia, Conn.) added 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists while junior Keith Mency (Edgewater, N.J.) contributed 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting.

Westfield State shot 50 percent and was 8-for-17 on 3-pointers while outrebounding BSU, 52-38.

The Bears shot 43 percent and were 11-for-32 on 3-pointers with just 10 turnovers.

BSU opened the game with a 5-0 lead 1:45 in on a 3-pointer by Stull and two foul shots by freshman Jake Olmstead (Franklin, Mass.).

A jumper by McConnell gave the Bears a 7-2 edge, and they held a 9-5 advantage before Westfield State took the lead for good.

The Owls went on a 13-2 run for an 18-11 lead, doing so in the span of 3:47.

BSU was within 18-14, but a Rogers' 3-pointer pushed the Owls up, 28-18.

A 3-pointer by Kikuba allowed the Bears to move within 33-29 with 4:59 to go, but Westfield State closed on a 17-5 run for a 50-34 halftime lead.

BSU was down, 50-38, in the first minute of the second half after a Stull basket, but the Owls were never threatened in the second 20 minutes.

The Bears will have Senior Night on Wednesday when they host Framingham State at 7:30 p.m. in the final home game.

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