WESTFIELD STATE COMES FROM BEHIND TO TOP MEN’S BASKETBALL, 81-69

BOSTON, Mass. – After trailing by nine points at the half, the Westfield State University rebounded to post an 81-69 victory over host Emmanuel College Saturday afternoon in non-conference action at the Jean Yawkey Center gymnasium. The Owls improve to 3-1 with the victory while the loss drops the Saints to 1-3 on the year.

The Owls jumped out to an early 3-0 lead following a layup by senior guard Andre King (Springfield, Mass.) but over the next five minutes, the Saints responded with a 13-0 run to take a 13-3 lead after junior forward Kyle Davis (Groveland, Mass.) converted a layup in the paint with 12:29 to play in the opening stanza.

Westfield State struggled from the field, opening the game on just 1-15 from the floor before a layup from sophomore guard Phillip Diphillipo (Orange, Mass.) cut the Saints lead to 13-6.

A layup by EC junior forward John Clay (Westport, Mass.) gave the Saints their largest lead of the half at 21-10 with just over eight minutes to play but the Owls finally started to heat up from the floor as sophomore guard Evan Hopson (Providence, R.I.) cut the lead to 26-21 with 1:27 to play in the first half.

Emmanuel closed the half on a 4-0 spurt capped by a three pointer from freshman guard Josh Bushman (Hurst, Texas) to take a 30-21 lead into halftime.

Along with the action, Emmanuel controlled the rebounding effort in the opening half by out-rebounding Westfield 32-16 including a monster 14 offensive boards, leading to 16 second chance points.

Westfield State opened the second half scoring on six of its first seven possessions and a three by sophomore guard Allen Jose (Amherst, Mass.) gave the visitors a 36-34 lead.

EC responded with a 7-0 run with Davis converting a power-layup to lift the hosts to a 41-36 advantage but it was short-lived as the Owls rattled off five straight points to even the score at 41-all with 13 minutes remaining.

A Clay three-pointer pulled the hosts ahead 46-42 but Westfield State continued to fight, tying the score at 46-46 with 10:11 to play on a jumper from the top of the key by senior forward Dan Johnson (Belchertown, Mass.).

A steal and fast break layup by sophomore guard Jesus Sanchez (Springfield, Mass.), followed by a pair of free throws lifted the Owls to a 53-48 lead.

With 5:48 to play, an old-fashion three-point play by Westfield sophomore forward Nathan Powers (Chicopee, Mass.) bumped the visitor lead to 60-53.

The Owls continued to push and a layup by Allen increased the lead to 66-55 with 4:07 remaining in the action, forcing the Saints to spend a timeout to regroup. Unfortunately for the hosts, they were unable to recover as Westfield State would hang on for an 81-69 come-from-behind road victory.

Down the stretch, Westfield was almost perfect from the free throw line, converting 28-30 free throws in the second half while the Saints were just 8-21 from the charity stripe in the stanza.

King led all scorers with 20 points while Allen, Sanchez and Johnson were also in double figures, posting 16, 13 & 10, respectively.

For Emmanuel, Davis posted a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds while sophomore forward Aidan Hadley (Owls Head, Maine) also recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Clay led the Saints with 15 points.

Both teams return to the court this Tuesday night, November 25th.  The Saints host Wheaton College for a 6:00 PM start while Westfield travels to neighbor Western New England University for a 7:30 PM tip.