WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- Five different players contributed points in a decisive 11-3 run late in the first half as the Bowdoin College men's basketball team moved out to a 13-point halftime lead and never let it slip into single digits thereafter in a 76-63 victory over Bridgewater State University on the first day of the Eastern Connecticut State University Holiday Invitational Thursday evening at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

Bowdoin will meet host Eastern Connecticut Friday at noon. Eastern's scheduled first-round game Thursday against Anna Maria College was canceled. The Polar Bears (8-3) have won four of their last five, while the Bears (2-9) snapped a modest two-game winning streak. Bridgewater State will not play on Friday due to Anna Maria dropping out of the tournament.

Bowdoin sophomore guard Michael Simonds (Falmouth, Maine) scored 18 of his game-high 30 points in the second half to power the Polar Bears to a lead of as many as 24 points.

After Bridgewater cut a 17-point deficit to 11 (46-35) five minutes into the second half, freshman forward Afamdi Aschufusi (Washington, D.C.) scored from inside and Simonds followed soon after with a driving layup off a feed from senior forward Taiga Kagitomi (Tokyo, Japan) and nailed a three-pointer off a pass from freshman guard Cole Hanin (Bethesda, Md.) to push the lead back to 16, 53-37, seven minutes into the second half.

In the second half, Simonds was 7 of 11 from the floor, including 4-for-5 from distance and finished the half with 18 of the Polar Bears' 38 points. No other Bowdoin player had more than six in the half. The team leader with an 18.6 average, Simonds was 11-for-23 from the floor and 8-for-14 from three-point range and had five rebounds and zero turnovers in 33 minutes. Achufusi was the only other Bowdoin player in double figures, with ten, but he helped the Polar Bears to a +13 advantage in rebounds with a game-high 11. He missed out on a triple-double by three assists.

Bridgewater senior guard Alan Pettway (Worcester, Mass.) led the Bears with 15 points but was his team's only double-digit scorer. Freshman guard Quinton Champagne (Wrentham, Mass.) had nine points off the bench for the Bears and freshman center Camden Dunbury (Pocasset, Mass.) had a team-best six rebounds and notched five of the Bears' seven blocked shots and also finished with nine points.

Bridgewater State is back in action on Wednesday, January 5th when the Bears open Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play at home against Framingham State University.