BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Third-seeded Westfield State University posted an 89-79 victory over #2 Bridgewater State University in the semifinal round of the 2023 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Basketball Tournament on Friday evening at the Tinsley Center.

The Owls improve to 12-15 on the season and advance to the MASCAC championship game for the fourth straight season and tenth time overall. Westfield will travel to Worcester State University on Sunday afternoon to take on the top-seeded Lancers with the conference title on the line. The Bears end the season with an overall record of 18-8.

Senior forward Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass.) recorded a double-double with 26 points and 12 rebounds (five offensive) to lead the way for Westfield. Hamilton added five assists, four steals and a pair of blocked shots.

Senior forward JT Thompson (Columbia, S.C.) scored a game-high 27 points for the Owls to go along with seven rebounds (two offensive) and six assists, while senior forward Brendan Keaveny (Quincy, Mass.) contributed 18 points and six rebounds. Senior forward Kumar Brown (Enfield, Conn.) checked in with 13 points, six rebounds (three offensive) and four assists.

Graduate center Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) paced Bridgewater State with double-double totals of 24 points and a game-best 13 rebounds (five offensive). He also notched a game-high four blocks. Halbleib connected on 9 of 13 field goals and went 6-for-7 at the free throw line. The double-double marked his team-leading 12th of the season.

The Bears also received 13 points, five assists and a game-best five steals from freshman guard Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) as well as 14 points, five assists and a pair of steals in 25 minutes off the bench from sophomore guard Quinton Champagne (Wrentham, Mass.).

The Owls used an 11-2 run early in the first half to open up an 18-8 lead. Thompson scored seven points during the spurt and capped it off with a traditional three-point play. Westfield would get up by as many as 17 points in the opening stanza including the halftime score of 42-25.

Thompson and Hamilton tallied 12 points apiece over the first 20 minutes, while Halbleib paced the hosts with eight.

Bridgewater struggled to shoot the ball in the first half, particularly from three-point range. The Bears went 11-for-35 (31.4%) from the floor including 1-for-15 (6.7%) from behind the arc. The Owls connected on 51.4% (18-35) of their first half field goals and knocked down 4 of 7 (57.1%) three-pointers. Westfield committed ten turnovers in the opening session.

The Owls got up by as many as 23 points twice in the second half including a 78-55 lead following a pair of Hamilton free throws with 4:31 left to play. The Bears would not go down quietly, however, as a 15-2 run, highlighted by six points from Kikuba, cut the deficit to ten (80-70) with 1:30 showing on the scoreboard. But the comeback bid would fall short as Thompson drained a clutch three-pointer out of a time and the Owls held on for the 89-79 win.

Westfield shot 47.8% (32-67) for the game, 52.9% (9-17) from three-point range and 69.6% (16-23) at the free throw line. Bridgewater bounced back with a strong second half to finish with a shooting percentage of 42.3% (30-71). The Bears also went 15-for-17 (88.2%) at the charity stripe but couldn't get untracked from behind the arc converting just 4 of 28 (14.3%) three-point field goals.

The Bears held the edge in points in the paint (48-32), points off turnovers (20-12) and second chance points (12-10). The BSU bench also outscored the Westfield reserves, 24-5.

Notes: Halbleib set the Bears' single-season record for field goal percentage. He shot 68.2% (152-223) on the year to eclipse the previous program mark of 64.8% (116-179) set by Samuel Johnson in 2010-2011...Halbleib also added on to his single-season record for blocked shots as he finished the year with 68.