James, Allah Lead Owls to Tournament Title

WESTFIELD, Mass. -  Westfield State junior guard Jason James (Ansonia, Conn./Westminster School) scored 29 points to lead the Owls to an 85-79 win at  the US Coast Guard Academy, and the tournament title at the Mitchell-Coast Guard Tournament with a pair of wins in the two day tournament in New London, Conn.

Westfield improves to 4-0 on the season with the win, while USCGA is 3-1.

Westfield used a 19-0 run midway through the first half to get out to a 17-point lead.  Trailing 23-21 after a layup from the Bears' Jordan Frazier

Westfield's Akbar Allah keyed the run with three-three pointers and a layup in the key 4-minute and 20-second span.  James capped the run with a layup that put the Owls up 40-23.

Westfield led by as many as 22 points in the second half, the last time on a layup from Akbar Allah (Springfield, Mass./Putnam) with just over 10 minutes to play.

Coast Guard chipped away at the Owls lead late, and reeled it in all the way to three points at 80-77 after a three pointer by the Academy's Trevor Parks with 1:19 left in regulation.  The Owls canned five of six free throws in the final minute to preserve the win.

James finished 11-19 from the floor, and 7-7 at the foul line, and grabbed seven rebounds.  He was named to the All Tournament team alongside teammate AZ Allah (Springfield, Mass./MacDuffie) who was selected as the Tournament MVP.  AZ scored 29 points in the Owls first round win over Mitchell, and added eight points, six assists and three steals in the win over Coast Guard.

Akbar Allah and Kenney Rogers (Springfield, Mass./Spfld In. Charter) each scored 15, and Joe Thomson  (Sunderland, Mass./Frontier) grabbed 11 rebounds for the Owls.

Parks led four Coast Guard players in double figures with 20 points.

Westfield will be idle until December 3 when they host Emmanuel College.