An emotional Grant Cooper flexes after making an acrobatic layup. Cooper was fouled and completed the 3-point play for a 67-60 Westfield lead with 2:04 remaining. (Photo by Mickey Curtis)
WESTFIELD – Westfield State senior forward Grant Cooper (Northampton/Northampton, Mass.) scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead four Owls in double figures as Westfield State defeated Salem State 68-44 in a MASCAC men’s basketball game at the Woodward Center on Saturday afternoon.
Westfield improves to 9-5 overall and 3-0 in MASCAC play. Salem falls to 9-7 and 1-2 in the MASCAC.
Westfield led 24-16 at the half.
In the second half, Westfield State responded to every Salem State run. The Vikings cut the lead to as few as six points, at 32-26, but Westfield rallied back with a 12-2 run to grab a 44-28 lead after senior forward Dan Tessier (Uxbridge/Uxbridge, Mass.) stole the ball with a diving hustle play, and outletted the ball to Robbie Jones (Chicopee/Chicopee, Mass.) for a fast break layup with 12:27 left to play.
After a Salem timeout, the Vikings mustered a 10-2 run capped by a Marcus Faison (Cambridge Rindge and Latin/ Cambridge, Mass.) layup with 9:36 to play to cut the lead back to eight, 46-38.
The Owls responded again, this time with a 16-0 blitz, led by a 3-pointer from Jones at 8:59 and capped by a Cooper layup with 5:35 to play that gave Westfield an insurmountable 60-38 lead.
Jones finished with 13 points and four steals, Jesus Sanchez (Holderness School/Springfield, Mass.) scored 12 points, and Andre King (Suffield Academy/Springfield, Mass.) added 11 points for Westfield. Tessier finished with eight points, seven rebounds and three steals and three blocked shots, and Dan Johnson (Belchertown/Belchertown, Mass.) scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds in the Owls total team effort.
Salem was led by Hamed Akanni (Notre Dame/Fitchburg, Mass.) with 13 points and Faison added 12 points and five rebounds.
The Owls ran out to an 18-2 lead in the first 11:30 of the half, holding Salem to 1-17 shooting to start the game. The Owls forced six Salem turnovers and blocked five shots in that game opening span.
Salem pulled to within 21-10. With 7:25 left Cooper picked up his second foul, then committed his third foul on a charge on the ensuing Owls possession and was relegated to the bench for the rest of the half.
Westfield largely managed to stalemate the Vikings over the final 7:12, as the Vikings could only muster a 6-4 edge with the Owls captain on the pine.
Salem State shot just 18 percent (6-23) in the first half and 24.6 percent for the game on 17-59 shooting. Westfield held 50-44 edge on the boards, and made 21 of 30 free throws.
Westfield has now won all three of its conference games by more than 20 points, The owls will be back in action on Tuesday night, traveling to play Worcester State in a game that will be played at Nichols College in Dudley, Mass. (as Worcester State’s athletics center is under construction).
Salem will host Framingham State on Tuesday.
