Men's Hoop Chops Elms, 102-87

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College men's basketball team couldn't keep pace with an up-tempo Westfield State squad on Saturday afternoon, falling 102-87 in non-conference action in Picknelly Arena.

The Owls (3-4) shot 57.8 percent (37-of-64) from the field for the game to push past the Blazers (0-7), who shot a season-best 48.6 percent (35-of-72) from the field. Neither team shot particularly well from the free throw line, but Westfield State got to the stripe twice as often as Elms. Going 22-of-39 compared to just 10-of-19 for the Blazers. Elms did its best to keep up with the Owls in transition, and managed to out-score Westfield State 36-34 on the fast break.

Elms trailed by just one, 38-37, with under two minutes to play in the first half before the Owls went on a quick 12-3 run to take their largest lead of the half, 50-40 with 13 seconds left in the period. Elms cut that deficit to 50-42 at the break but the Owls scored the first bucket of the second half and led by double-figures for most of the second half.

Tyler Barney (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) led all scorers with 25 points off the bench for the Blazers. Barney went 9-of-13 from the field and 6-of-9 from 3-point range and added three assists and three steals. Nikolas Brown (Wellington, Fla.) added 12 points and eight boards for Elms, and Pablo Ortiz (Newington, Conn.) chipped in with 11. Andre Peguero (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Kewan Smoot (Windsor, Conn.) each added 10 points to round out five double-digit scorers for Elms.

Jauch Green, Jr., (Hartford, Conn.) led Westfield State with 21 points, 11 rebounds and four steals. Green hit 9-of-14 from the field and three of his boards came on the offensive end. Marcus Collins (Cambridge, Mass.) added 19 points and nine rebounds for the Owls and Christopher Prophet (Springfield, Mass.) finished with 14 points and six assists.

The Owls won the battle on the glass, 41-36, and forced the Blazers into one more turnover than they committed, 22-21.

The Blazers open New England Collegiate Conference play at Mitchell on Dec. 4. Westfield State will visit Western New England on Dec. 8.