Jordan Santiago makes a 3-point basket over Alex Garstka during early first-half action. Santiago and Garstka were backcourt teammates at Westfield High School. (Photo by Mickey Curtis)
WESTFIELD – Senior forward Tim Swenson scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds to lead Springfield College to a 67-59 victory over Westfield State University in non-conference men’s basketball action on Wednesday.
Led by the 6-7, 225-pound Swenson’s inside play, Springfield improved its record to 6-2. Westfield is 6-3.
The Owls only sustained an eight-point setback despite shooting a dismal 30 percent (21 for 70) from the field and 52 percent (9 for 17) from the foul line. Also, Westfield was 8 for 31 from 3-point range. The Owls managed to keep within striking distance, however, by outrebounding the Pride, 44-32, and committing only nine turnovers.
Interestingly, Springfield made the same number of field goals and 3-point baskets as Westfield, but the Pride shot 49 percent from the field (21 for 43) and 44 percent (8 for 18) from beyond the arc. Springfield’s advantage came at the foul line where it was 17 for 23.
Grant Cooper scores over the 6-7 Tim Swenson for two of his game-high 15 points. (Photo by Mickey Curtis)
The Pride began pulling away from the cold shooting Owls late in the first half after the local rivals had changed leads 10 times.
Westfield took its final lead of the game, 29-27, when junior forward Grant Cooper converted a conventional 3-point play with 1:49 remaining in the half.
Springfield then closed the half with an 8-0 run for a 35-29 advantage. Westfield trailed 35-32 early in the first half when Springfield went on another 8-0 run, capped by a Nick Sienkiewicz 3-point basket, for a 43-32 lead at the 16:57 mark.
The Pride’s largest lead was 12 points twice, including a 61-49 margin following an old fashioned 3-point play by Alex Garstka with 6:52 remaining.
Springfield only scored one point over the next six minutes, and the score was stuck at 62-55 for several minutes as Westfield missed four straight shots, including three 3-pointers. The Pride sealed the victory with two free throws from Sean Martin with exactly a minute remaining.
Martin was Springfield’s second leading scorer with 13 points; he dished a game-high six assists. Garstka, a classmate of Owl point guard Jordan Santiago at Westfield High School, tallied 11 points before a large group of hometown supporters.
The hard-working Cooper scored a game-high 15 points and yanked a team-high nine rebounds. Freshman reserve guard Joe Crapps was the only other player in double figures with 10 points. More than half (30) of Westfield’s points came from the bench.
