By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team responded to a crucial late-season game in impressive style on Wednesday night.
With first place on the line in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, the Bears had little trouble against defending champion Worcester State University. BSU raced to a 24-point halftime lead and cruised to a 93-61 victory over the Lancers at the Tinsley Center.
The Bears (8-2) are now one-half game ahead of Worcester State (7-2) with two regular-season games remaining. Westfield State University is third at 7-3.
BSU has won six straight games since losing at Worcester State, 84-79, on Jan. 13 and improved to 12-10 overall.
Guards Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) and Precious Okoh (Brockton, Mass.) combined for 53 points to lead the Bears, who didn't trail after the opening minute.
BSU held Worcester State (13-9) to 38 percent shooting while making 56 percent of its shots.
Kikuba was 9-for-9, with four 3-pointers, and had 24 first-half points, finishing with 28 on 11-for-12 shooting. He also had 11 rebounds, four steals and three assists in 31 minutes. The double-double marked Kikuba's second of the season.
Okoh had 21 second-half points when he went 8-for-15 from the field and wound up with 25 points. He also had four rebounds and three assists.
It was a dominant performance from start to finish for the Bears, who have scored at least 90 points in three of the last four games while getting 89 in the other one.
First place was up for grabs, the BSU responded with perhaps its best game of the season.
"I think they understood the importance of the game, how good Worcester is and they were locked in and they were focused and they wanted it," said BSU coach Matt McLaughlin.
"We had played well (at Worcester), but had too many turnovers. That was a big emphasis going into this game because they had 27 points off 18 turnovers. If we just eliminate three or four turnovers, the game can change.
"They just understood in order to be the champs, you've got to beat the champs. We've still got a ways to go. But it was important to understand and see we could beat them."
Kikuba provided the spark in the first half with his perfect shooting.
He had 10 points in the first 6:50 when the Bears opened a 17-7 lead, then Justin Parsons (Portsmouth, R.I.) scored eight points in a row when BSU went up, 36-22.
Kikuba scored 11 of the Bears' final 13 points in the first half, which ended with a 53-29 lead.
"He's tough," said McLaughlin. "I always say he's our motor. He's the smallest guy on the floor, but he's got the biggest heart. He's our heart. When he beats, we follow him."
Okoh, after scoring four first-half points, took over in the second half.
BSU opened the lead to 68-38 in the first 5:20 and he scored 11 points in that stretch.
"He does such a great job of creating his own shot, creating his space but being able to finish in contact," said McLaughlin of Okoh. "He's so tough and so strong that it's hard to bump him off his path. He gets to his spots."
The one-two punch of Kikuba and Okoh continues to be a potent one for the Bears.
"I'm obviously biased, but I think they're the two best guards in the area at the Division 3 level," said McLaughlin. "The other part is their defense. They're so strong defensively.To have to put up with both of them on the defensive end and they're going to come after you. He's defending 93 feet and now he's scoring 28, too? That's a lot."
BSU moved the lead to 30 on a three-point play by Okoh with 14:40 to go, making it 68-38, and the closest the Lancers got the rest of the way was 24 points in the closing minutes.
Joining Kikuba and Okoh in double figures for the Bears were graduate student Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) with 12 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and four blocks while Parsons scored 11 points, hitting three 3-pointers. Emerson's double-double was his ninth of the season and 21st of his career.
Ryan Rubenskas (Bridgewater, Mass.) led the Lancers with 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals and Aaron Nkrumah (Worcester, Mass.) added 16 points.
BSU finishes with a home game Saturday at 2 p.m. against Fitchburg State, then a trip to Westfield State next Wednesday night.
Worcester State has three games to go, starting Saturday at home against Salem State.
"We've got to keep winning the day," said McLaughlin. "Today was today's game. Tomorrow we've got to win at practice. That's the mantra we've been working on. Every day is a threat of complacency."
Saturday will be Senior Day and Alumni Day for the Bears. Playing their final regular-season home game will be Okoh, Halbleib, Parsons and Alvin Chukwuezi.