Men's Basketball Picks Up Key 62-58 Triumph Over Westfield State

Worcester, MA --- Junior Brendan Rios (Easthampton, MA) netted a game-best 24 points as he helped pace Worcester State to a 62-58 victory over Westfield State in MASCAC men's basketball action this afternoon at Clark Universities Kneller Athletic Center.

The Lancers, who have won six out of their last seven, run their record to 9-13 while the Owls fall to 13-10 overall.

Both squads now sport identical 6-4 marks in conference action and are tied for third and remain in contention for a first-round home game in the upcoming league tournament with two games left.

Senior Dane Jobst (Athol, MA) put up his 15th double-double in 22 games to lead the hosts with 11 second-half points and a contest-high 13 boards.

Freshman Noris Cuevas-Nova (Amherst, MA) chipped in with seven points, 11 caroms and two blocks as sophomore Manny Cabral (Roslindale, MA) added eight points for the Blue and Gold.

Junior Grant Cooper (Northampton, MA) led Westfield State with 19 points, nine rebounds and a trio of assists while freshman Jesus Sanchez (Springfield, MA/Holderness) tallied 11 points. Junior Dan Johnson (Belchertown, MA) jacked three triples to finish with nine points for the Owls.

Cooper also became the 20th Westfield State men's basketball player to net his 1,000 career point in the loss for the visitors.

The Owls opened the contest with a 21-5 surge on the back of two trifectas by Johnson, Sanchez and another by junior Dan Tessier (Uxbridge, MA).

As Westfield State continued to maintain the 16 point lead at the 11:02 mark, the Lancers came right back and answered with a large run of their own – a 22-7 spurt for the 30-29 margin at the intermission. Rios keyed the run with a trey to start things off while also pouring in all 16 of his first-half points in the skein.

Three minutes into the second period and the score 32-32, the Owls used an 8-0 run to take over the 40-32 margin with 13:30 left. Cooper reached the coveted milestone on a driving lay-up to ignite Westfield State and senior Aaron West (Chicopee, MA) finished with a triple for the visitors.

The Lancers promptly responded and evened things up by outscoring their opponents 12-4 over the next 4½ minutes to equalize the contest at 44-44 with 8:52 remaining. Jobst and Rios sank five field goals in the paint for the hosts in the spurt.

Over the next 6:00 of game time, the contest went back and forth with seven lead changes and three ties as Westfield State held the largest margin following a trifecta by Sanchez at 5:55 (51-48).

With the contest knotted 57-57 after Stewart hit the front end of a bonus, he missed another opportunity to put his team on top on the next possession. Jobst answered by registering one of two at the line for the one point edge with 1:34 left in the contest.  

Cooper was sent to the line and he equalized the score at 58-58 with 39 ticks on the clock, but the Owls lost a chance at taking the lead on a lane violation as Coopers second try was in the air.

After Cabral rang in both of his attempts at the charity stripe for the 60-58 lead with 26 seconds, Cooper was rejected by freshman Paul Brooks (Arlington, MA) in the waning moments on the possible tying basket. Rios sealed up the hard-fought Blue and Gold victory with two more at the line for the final score.

The Lancers connected for a modest 37 percent from the field (19-for-53), but only drained two of their 15 bids from beyond the arc and missed 10 free throw tries (14-for-24 – 58 percent). Worcester State, however, dominated the backboards (51-31), the offensive glass (22-12) and the paint (34-20).

Westfield State had a solid 36 percent effort on their shots (23-for-62) while they finished sinking eight of their 19 attempts downtown. The Owls though shot poorly at the charity stripe (12-for-26 – 46 percent).

The visitors took the most off of 15 miscues by the Blue and Gold with a 22-15 margin while also holding a surprising 14-13 edge in second-chance points.

Both squads continue their MASCAC slates on Tuesday evening. Worcester State entertains Fitchburg State at Nichols in an 8 PM affair as Westfield State takes the trek to MCLA in a 7:30 tip-off.

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