Men's Basketball Falls to Westfield State, 99-71

WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Westfield State University men's basketball team cruised to a 99-71 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over visiting Bridgewater State University on Wednesday night at The Woodward center.

Westfield State improves to 16-7 on the season and 8-2 in the MASCAC, while Bridgewater State falls to 8-13 overall and 5-4 in conference play. The Owls have won each of the last four meetings of the two teams and are 58-53 all-time versus the Bears since 1965.

Westfield jumped out to a 17-2 lead 7 ½ minutes into the game and never looked back. The Owls led 46-29 at the break and got up by as many as 32 points in the second half.

Senior guard Vawn Lord (Amherst, Mass.) scored a game-high 20 points for Westfield, while senior forward Jauch Green Jr. (Hartford, Conn.) notched 19 points, eight rebounds (four offensive), eight assists and five steals. Graduate forward Marcus Collins (Cambridge, Mass.) checked in with 13 points and eight boards (four offensive) for the Owls. Junior guard Malik Pouncy (Mattapan, Mass.) and junior forward Justin Rennis (Springfield, Mass.) added 14 and 12 points, respectively, off the bench.

Senior forward Rayshon Ward (Fayetteville, N.C.) tallied 17 points, ten rebounds and three blocked shots to lead the way for Bridgewater. Ward recorded his tenth double-double of the season.

Senior guard Ryan Carney (Easton, Mass.) added 16 points for the Bears while senior forward Dimitri St. Louis (Brockton, Mass.) finished with 13 points and five boards. Freshman forward Mathew Romano (Sanford, Maine) contributed a season-high 12 points in eight minutes off the bench, and sophomore guard David Laine (Bourne, Mass.) dished out a season-best eight assists.

The Owls shot 46% (38-82) from the floor and went 7-for-22 from behind the arc and 16-for-28 (57%) at the free throw line.

The Bears connected on 36% (24-67) of their field goals attempts and finished 9-for-25 (36%) from three-point range and 14-for-19 (74%) at the charity stripe.

Westfield forced 19 turnovers in the game and held a decided 32-5 edge in points off turnovers. The Owls also outscored the Bears in the paint, 58-26.

In upcoming MASCAC action, the Bears entertain the Falcons of Fitchburg State University on Saturday afternoon at three. The Owls are off until next Wednesday night when they travel to Salem State University for a seven o'clock game with the Vikings.

Notes: Carney (1,446 pts.) moved into tenth place on the Bears' all-time scoring list, while Ward (1,317 pts.) is now 14^th among the Bears' career scoring leaders.