Owls Clinch MASCAC Regular-Season Crown

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Senior forward Joe Thomson scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to help power Westfield State to a 84-77, come-from-behind win over Salem State at the Woodward Center on Wednesday night , giving the Owls the regular-season, MASCAC men's basketball title, and the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament.'

Westfield trailed 38-30 at the half, but came out much sharper for the second stanza.  The Owls starting five went all 20 minutes in the second half, starting the frame with a 13-2 run to grab a 43-40 lead.  After Salem tied the game at 45, the Owls extended the scoring outburst to 33-11 to lead 63-49 on an A.Z. Allah layup with 10:14 left in the game.

That was the biggest lead of the day, as Salem chipped away, and pulled to within three points  at 77-74 after back-to-back three-pointers from Omni Merryman and Tyrese Rho, with 2:24 left to play.

Westfield answered with a bomb of a three-pointer from Jason James, who found himself wide open four feet behind the arc on a kickout from Thomson with 1:52 left, and a steal and layup from Allah in the next possession gave the Owls an eight-point lead with 1:24 left and the Vikings were forced to foul down the stretch.

Westfield is now 19-5 overall and 11-2 in the MASCAC, while Salem is 14-10 and 7-6 in the conference.

All five Owls starters finished in double figures in scoring. Thomson recorded his third-straight double-double,  James posted 16 points, and Allah and Keith Mency each netted 15.   Kenney Rogers narrowly missed a triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

Rogers crept closer to the 1,000-career point mark.  He has 986 after today's game.

Salem was led by 15 points and 10 rebounds from Raheim Orleans. Jamel Walker added 14 points, five rebounds an six assists, with Rho added 13 points and six assists.   Merryman finished with 19 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Westfield will host Fitchburg State in the final regular-season contest of the year on Saturday.   The Owls will have home-court advantage throughout the MASCAC tournament. Westfield receives a first-round bye and will host a semifinal round game on Thursday, February 26.