Lord Almighty ! Vawn Lord's 44 Points Leads Westfield Past Salem State

WESTFIELD, Mass. –   Westfield State senior guard Vawn Lord (West Springfield, Mass./Amherst) erupted for 44 points to lead Westfield State to an 86-63 men's basketball victory over Salem State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game at the Tim Shea Court in Salem, Mass. on Wednesday night.

Lord scored 17 of the Owls first 18 points in the game and netted 22 in the first half.  The 44 for Lord is one of the top performances in school history, six points shy of the school record of 50 set by Ray Glynn in 1969.   Lord was 14 of 29 from the floor, 2-4 from three point range and 14-17 at the foul line before fouling out with two minutes left in the game.  He added 11 rebounds.

Westfield's Jauch Green, Jr. (Hartford, Conn./Cromwell) added 27 points and 15 rebounds.  Green now has 997 career points in his two seasons at Westfield State.

The dynamic duo were the only two players in double figure scoring for Westfield, netting 71 of the Owls 86 points.  The rest of the roster was a combined 6-34 (17.6 percent) from the floor.

Green scored the Owls final six points of the first half, including a driving layup that scored as the buzzer sounded to give Westfield a 36-24 lead at the half.

The Owls steadily pulled away from the Vikings in the second half before emptying the bench with about two and a half minutes left in the game.

Westfield improves to 17-7 overall and 9-2 in the MASCAC to maintain at least a share of the conference lead, pending the outcomes of other league games tonight.

The Owls grabbed 60 total rebounds (24 offensive) to Salem's 44, and Westfield finished 24-31 at the foul line, compared to Salem's 11-17.

Salem dipped to 5-20 overall and 4-8 in the MASCAC.  The Vikings were led by 15 points and 10 rebounds from Hakeem Animashaun. Jaden Castillo added 11.  Mass Joof grabbed 10 rebounds and contributed six points.

Westfield will have a chance to clinch the conference regular-season title and top seed in the MASCAC tournament when they host MCLA on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., in what will be Senior Day for the Owls four seniors, as well as the Think Pink cancer awareness game.  Wear pink to the Woodward Center to support the Owls!