Men's basketball drops home tilt with Westfield State

North Adams, MA- The Westfield State Men's basketball team used a strong second half fueled by Grant Cooper to pull away from the MCLA Trailblazers 80-63 earning a key MASCAC win in the process.  Cooper finished with 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists as the Owls outscored MCLA 53-34 in the final twenty minutes.

The Owls move to 14-10 and sit at 7-4 in conference play.  MCLA drops to 8-15 and is now 5-6 in the MASCAC.

The decisive second half saw the Owls shoot a blistering 67% from the floor while holding the Trailblazers to just 31% shooting for the game.  The Owl zone gave MCLA fits as the Trailblazers were forced to hoist up threes but could not convert.  They hit just 6-33 attempts from beyond the arc.

MCLA led 29-27 at halftime and quickly scored the first two baskets of the second half to move out to a 33-27 lead.  The Owls quickly responded scoring six straight of their own to tie the game at 33.  The teams traded baskets and with 11:47 remaining the game was knotted at 39.  From the Owls took over.

They used a 12-0 run sparked by Aaron West, who had six points in the run, and capped off by Dan Johnson's corner triple putting Westfield ahead 51-39 with 8:58 to play.  MCLA would get within six points on two occasions, the last of which was at 56-50 with 5:06 left following a pair of Jeremic Bennett free throws, however Westfield had too much for the Trailblazers.

A 10-0 run over the next two minutes put the game away for the Owls.  Cooper started the run with a drive to the basket, however it was West and Johnson who capped the run with the final seven points.  MCLA never got within single digits again as the Owls were tough from the free throw line converting 21-30 attempts, including 16-20 in the closing half.

MCLA led for much of the first half.  With the Trailblazers holding an early 9-8 advantage, they would embark on a 9-1 run to grab their largest lead of the half at 18-9 following an Anthony Barbosa free throw with 9:56 til halftime.  After Westfield scored consecutive buckets to trim the margin to 18-13, MCLA's Tyriq Rochester made two highlight reel plays to spark the home side.

Rochester would slam home a John Jones miss with a thunderous jam and then just a minute later, he blocked a shot to ignite the fast break.  He would be the recipient of a tipped pass and came flying down the middle for another one handed slam to give MCLA a 22-15 lead with 6:49 left.  After a Jones layup pushed the lead to nine points again, the Owls began clawing their way back in it.  They would outscore MCLA 12-5 over the final 4:30 to close to within a bucket at 29-27 at the break. 

Cooper missed only one field goal attempt (4-5 FG) and was a solid 11-16 from the stripe.  He continually broke the Trailblazer pressure and set up his teammates for the big second half.  The Owls collected 20 assists on 27 made field goals.

West would finish with a season best 15 points after a sluggish start, while Dan Tessier finished with a double double effort of 14 points and 12 rebounds.  Johnson ended the night with 11 points as did Jesus Sanchez.

MCLA was paced by Bennett's team best 14 points.  Todd Hunt finished with 9 points and 11 boards.

The Trailblazers will wrap up the regular season on Saturday when they battle Salem State at 2pm.