Trailblazers drop overtime thriller to Westfield 71-69

North Adams, MA- The visiting Westfield State Owls earned a hard fought, overtime victory over the MCLA Trailblazers this evening in the Amsler Campus Center Gym.  The hotly contested battle moves the Owls a half game in front of MCLA at 8-2 in the MASCAC (18-4 overall).  The Trailblazers suffer their second MASCAC defeat and fall to 7-2 in the conference while evening their record at 11-11.

Westfield was paced by Jordan Santiago's game high 16 points.  Grant Cooper would finish with a double double effort of 14 points and 11 rebounds.  Matt Devine also notched a double double ending the night with 13 points and 13 caroms.  He also added 6 steals and 4 blocks.  Owl leading scorer Lee Vazquez ended the night with 11 points, all of which came in the final 25 minutes.

For MCLA, they had three players end the night with 12 points as Ruben DelRosario, Paul Maurice, and John Jones led the charge.

The game was tight from start to finish.  In the second half alone, no team led by more than six points and the final 25 minutes of play featured 9 ties and 11 lead changes.  The Owls actually scored the game's final six points to earn the key victory.

In the extra session, the teams traded baskets to start the OT.  From that point, Trailblazer Paul Maurice made one of two at the line and Ruben DelRosario drained a desperation three as the shot clock winded down to give MCLA a 69-65 edge with 2:41 left in overtime. 

Westfield's Grant Cooper scored in the post to pull within a pair and then Lee Vasquez nailed a pull up three to give Westfield a 70-69 lead with 1:54 remaining.  Both teams committed turnovers which set up a frantic final 30 seconds.

MCLA had possession and following a sideline out of bounds play, Trailblazer Bilal Shabazz was stripped by Dan Tessier with 9 seconds left giving the Owls possession.  Forced to foul, MCLA sent Westfield's Jordan Santiago to the stripe.  He missed the first, but made the second to give Westfield a 71-69 edge.

MCLA had one last chance and Maurice got a great look at a game winning three pointer, however it hit the iron as the buzzer sounded giving the Owls the win.

The contest was physical all night long and was evident in the second half.  With the score tied at 52 all, DelRosario stole a pass and headed for a layup.  He was fouled by Westfield's Santiago.  The foul drew the ire of the MCLA bench.   Double technical were issued, however MCLA lost seven players for leaving the bench area, leaving the hosts with just seven players for the remainder of the contest.

Westfield seemed in control at that point moving out to the largest lead of the second half at 61-55 with five minutes remaining.  MCLA would rally though, going on a 7-0 run to take a 62-61 edge with 2:51 left in regulation.  A Grant Cooper jumper put Westfield back in front, which then led to Trailblazer Vernon Cross making one of two at the line to tie the score with just 44 seconds left.

The Owls would miss a pair of shots and then ultimately turn the ball over as time expired sending the game into overtime.

A hotly contested first half saw MCLA jump out quickly.  The Trailblazers opened the game on a 13-4 run that included four points from senior Richard Johnson forcing an Owl timeout.  After trading baskets and MCLA now holding a 15-6 lead, the Owls poured in six straight to get within three.  The run was capped by a Dan Tessier triple.

After MCLA pushed back out to a seven point edge at 21-14, the Owls made a strong surge to take their first lead of the night.  Westfield outscored MCLA 18-5 over the next six minutes to grab a 32-26 lead with just over two minutes left in the opening period.  MCLA would trim the margin to just 33-30 at the half.  Jordan Santiago tallied 12 first half points for Westfield, while John Jones led MCLA with 8 points in the opening twenty minutes.

MCLA will look to get back on track as they travel to Framingham State on Saturday.