Lewis Records Career-High 26 Points in Owls Setback Against MCLA

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Xavier Lewis (Long Island, N.Y.) scored a career-high 26 points for Westfield State which could not overcome 14 made three-pointers from MCLA, falling 86-83 in a MASCAC game on the road on Wednesday night.

The Owls suffer their first loss in conference play, dropping to 2-1 in the MASCAC and 10-4 overall. The Trailblazers pick up their first win in league play, advancing to 1-2 while improving to 4-8 on the season.

Lewis was ultra-efficient throughout the night, finishing 10-12 from the floor while making four triples to go along with five assists. Kenney Rogers (Springfield, Mass.) and Jason James (Ansonia, Conn.) were both in double figures with Rogers scoring 19 points while James added 14.

Craig Williams was at the front of the Trailblazers three-point barrage on the night, drilling five triples in just eight attempts as part of a team-high 22 points. Colin Quinn made three triples and scored 16 points while Jaxen Potter registered a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Westfield found themselves in a six-point deficit at the break, with MCLA knocking down eight threes while totaling 19 second chance points in the opening 20 minutes of action.

The Owls responded in the second half, scoring on their first four possessions of the frame to take a three-point lead after a layup from Rogers. In the middle third of the half, Westfield went on a 9-2 run to open up a seven-point lead at 71-64, with a layup from Cam Hoekstra (Spencer, Mass.) giving the Owls their largest lead of the game with 7:03 to play.

MCLA would claw back into the game and eventually retake the lead on a three from Jayden Mills for a 77-75 advantage with 3:17 remaining.

Rogers answered with a layup to tie the game, then after a foul at the rim and meeting between the three officials, a flagrant foul was called against the Owls two possessions later. Mills split a trip to the stripe, then retained the ball due to the flagrant and capitalized with a corner triple from Quinn, providing a four-point swing and an 81-77 Trailblazers lead with 1:58 to go.

The two sides traded buckets down the stretch with James converting a layup just under a minute remaining to cut the deficit to two points. Westfield got a stop on the next MCLA possession but were unable to convert down the other end of the floor, forcing the Owls to play the foul game. Williams buried two makes at the line to make it a two-possession game before Lewis zipped down the floor to make a layup with ten seconds left (85-83 MCLA).

An Owls trap in the corner nearly caused a turnover before a foul was called, sending Williams to the line where he would miss the first and make the second. After two Owls timeouts advanced the ball to midcourt, a deep and contested three at the buzzer did not fall to end the game.

Both teams shot the ball well from distance with MCLA winning through a volume of three point makes at 43.8 percent (14-32). Westfield made over 50 percent of their threes, but at a lower clip with eight makes in 15 attempts. The Trailblazers also crashed the glass on a consistent basis, out-rebounding Westfield 43-31 including 18 offensive rebounds compared to the Owls 10.

Westfield State will look to bounce back on their home court on Saturday as the Owls host Anna Maria in a MASCAC game at 2:00 P.M. from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass.