Owls Spear Lancers, 80-71

Westfield State 80, Worcester State 71

Box Score

Worcester, MA ---  Junior Asa Abbott (New Paltz, NY) notched a game-20 points while classmate Derek Leab (Shrewsbury, MA) tallied 13 points to help propel Westfield State to an 80-71 victory over Worcester State this evening at Lancer Gymnasium in MASCAC Men’s Basketball action.

The Owls improve to 13-7 overall and 6-2 in MASCAC play while the Lancers even out their record to 10-10 and 4-4 in the conference.

Abbot scored his 20 points on shooting 7-for-12 from the field with three treys while Leab was 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. Senior Dave Jaenig (Quincy, MA) had a great all-around game as he dished out a game-high eight rebounds with eight points and six rebounds.

The Lancers were led by junior Maurice Horton’s (Detroit, MI) 14th double-double in 21 contests after he finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Elijah Sims (Worcester, MA) recorded 18 points while classmate Brandon Fortes (Pawtucket, RI) chipped in with 17 points and three steals as he went 5-for-9 from downtown. Horton also ended the evening dishing out four assists.

With WSC nursing a 20-10 lead with 11 minutes left in the opening half, the Owls took control of the game and went on a 29-9 run to close out the half. Westfield State took the lead on a three-point shot by junior Kevin Knowles (Freetown, MA) at 5:32 and led 29-39 at the intermission. During the run the Lancers shot 2-for-7 from the field and they were 0-for-3 from three point land.

The Owls extended the lead to 15 points with 18:49 remaining before Worcester State went on a 9-2 spurt to trail by eight points three minutes later (38-46). Westfield State responded with a 14-5 push as they took 60-43 lead with 12:38 left. For the next five minutes of play neither team scored until Leab registered four straight points to end the drought to put the Owls up 48-63 at the 8:05 mark.

Leading 67-51 with 6:16 left in regulation, the Lancers went on a 10-1 run to close the gap to seven points (4:00), but Westfield scored three straight points to lead 71-61 with 3:25 left.
Over the next 3½ minutes of play the Lancers tried to get back into the game by fouling Westfield State and then driving to the basket to stop the clock and get to the free throw line, but it didn’t work as they only got as close as seven points with 1:59 left in the contest before the Owls held WSC off for the final score.

Westfield State ended the evening shooting 51% from the floor (38-for-55) and 38% from the three-point line (9-for-23). After only making four free throw attempts in the first period, the Owls went 14-for-23 from the charity stripe in the contest. Westfield State out rebounded WSC (32-31), dominated inside the key (22-8) and the visiting bench outscored its counterparts, 33-15.

The Lancers look for revenge when they play Becker on Thursday at 7:30 after losing the Worcester County Classic consolation game in November, 87-68, while the Owls will entertain Salem State on Saturday at 3 PM.