Men's Basketball Falls To Westfield State, 68-62

Dudley, MA --- Westfield State senior Robbie Jones (Chicopee, MA) led five double-digit scorers with a team-best 17 points to go with three assists as he helped pace the Owls to a 68-62 victory over Worcester State in MASCAC men's basketball action this evening at the Nichols Athletic Center.

Westfield State (10-5, 4-0 MASCAC) was also underscored by senior Grant Cooper (Springfield, MA/Northampton) who tallied 12 points and nine rebounds while sophomore Jesus Sanchez (Springfield, MA/Holderness) registered 13 points with six boards.

Cooper added four swipes as senior Andre King (Springfield, MA/Suffield Academy) and classmate Dan Tessier (Uxbridge, MA) both poured in 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Sophomore Marquez McKreith-Collins (Springfield, MA/Cathedral) netted a game-high 19 points and he grabbed six caroms. Second-year teammate Paul Brooks (Arlington, MA) registered his ninth double-double, finishing the contest with 15 points, 15 rebounds and a trio of blocks.

Senior Brendan Rios (Easthampton, MA) had a solid all-around game with 13 points, five boards and three helpers.

After much back and forth action, the Blue and Gold jumped ahead 19-10 midway through the opening half on the heels of a 12-2 spurt capped by a McKreith-Collins jumper at the 8:55 mark.

With Worcester State (3-14, 0-4 MASCAC) ahead 25-15 following a pair of buckets at the line by Rios and 5:54 on the clock, the Owls responded by closing out the frame with a 15-2 run as the visitors grabbed a 30-27 advantage at the half.

Jones nailed a trifecta at the buzzer to give Westfield State the lead at the intermission and five different Owls dotted the ledger in the outburst.

The visitors came out of the locker room and opened up a 39-31 contest four minutes into the second stanza, but the Lancers came back and threatened by outscoring their opponents 9-2 and trailed 41-40 with 14:17 on the clock.

Over the next six minutes, the margin never got beyond one possession as both sides traded baskets.

Worcester State took their final advantage of the game with 8:35 remaining in regulation on a McKreith-Collins lay-up for the 46-45 edge.

The Westfield State offense, however, exploded with a 20-3 surge to take over the 65-49 margin near the four-minute mark. Sanchez keyed the skein for the Owls with nine of his 13 points in the contest.

The Lancers made one final push with an 8-1 run which closed the gap to 66-57. Rios and Brooks combined for all eight points while Brooks sank two points in the paint with 1:08 left.

Jones canned two buckets at the charity stripe to put the visitors back up by 11 points and Worcester State ran out of time to get back into the game.

The hosts held a decisive 47-32 advantage on the backboards with the 16-9 margin in offensive caroms. The Blue and Gold coughed up the ball over 22 times as the Owls led in baskets off of turnovers (20-18).

Westfield State hit at a 41 percent clip for the game (24-for-58), but missed 11 tries at the free throw line (16-for-27 – 59 percent).

Worcester State wasn't far behind with 40 percent from the floor (23-for-58), however, they only hit three of their 14 tries from downtown (21 percent).

Both squads will continue MASCAC play on Saturday at 3 PM. Worcester State hosts Fitchburg State while Westfield State makes the trek to MCLA.