Westfield State Comes from Behind to Defeat Men's Basketball

Westfield, Mass. – Junior forward Grant Cooper and freshman guard Jesus Sanchez tied for game-high honors with 16 points to rally Westfield State to a  68-49 comeback victory over the Framingham State University Rams in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball opener on Thursday, Jan. 9.

Westfield, which outscored Framingham, 40-14, in the final 15 minutes, improves to 8-4 overall and 1-0 in the MASCAC. Framingham drops to 4-8 on the year and 0-1 in the conference.

It was a tale of two halves for the Owls, who trailed 29-21 at the break. Westfield did hold a 17-16 lead but the final 10 minutes of the first half were disastrous for the Owls as they were outscored 13-4. 

Westfield finally began clicking on both ends of the court in the second half. Trailing 35-28, the Owls went on a 13-0 run for a 41-35 lead with 12:51 remaining. Dan Tessier keyed the comeback with a 3-point basket at the beginning and end of the key scoring spurt.

The teams traded baskets over the next six minutes then Westfield went on a 9-0 run to take a 58-44 lead with 4:27 remaining. Keying the scoring spurt were guards Robby Jones and Sanchez and reserve forward Tchuijo Nkamebo, who blocked two shots. 

The Owls shot just 27% from the floo in the first half, while the Rams connected on just 5 of 27 field goal attempts (18 percent) in the final stanza. 

In addition to his 16 points, Cooper contributed six rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Jones had 12 points and three steals and Tessier totaled 10 points, six assists and four steals. Senior center Carl Stewart scored seven points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Freshman guard Charles Collins (Lynn, Mass.) was the only Framingham player in double figures with 10 points. Junior George Jordan (nine points, seven rebounds) and Dan Gould (Quincy, Mass.) (nine points, five rebounds, four steals) also paced the Rams

The Rams are back to action in the MASCAC on Saturday afternoon at Fitchburg State with tipoff slated for 3 p.m.

Release courtesy of WSU Sports Information.