Andre King (23) and Dan Tessier were two of five Owls seniors to score in double figures as the Owls defeated Salem State in front of a packed house at the Woodward Center. (Photo by Riley O’Brien photo/WSU Sports)
WESTFIELD – Westfield State’s five senior starters each scored in double figures as the top-seeded Owls sailed to a 96-75 win over fourth-seed Salem State in the semifinals of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic conference men’s basketball tournament at the Woodward Center on Thursday evening.
Westfield State advances to Saturday’s MASCAC Championship game and will host Bridgewater State in the championship game on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. The league tournament winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
Grant Cooper led the Owls with a near triple-double with 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Andre King added 23, Dan Johnson shot 6-9 from behind the three-point arc in adding 20 points. Classmates Robby Jones added 13 and Dan Tessier 10 for Westfield.
Westfield shot a blistering 70 percent from the floor, including setting a school-record an otherworldly 19-23 (82.6%) in the second half. The Owls also connected on 17 of 18 free throws.
Westfield led 39-29 at the half behind 13 points from Grant Cooper and 11 from Andre King.
The Owls opened the second half on a quick 5-0 spurt, as King drove for a layup on the first possession, and then a Cooper steal led to a transition three-pointer for Johnson to give Westfield State a 44-29 lead less than a minute into the second stanza. A Cooper follow up gave Westfield a 46-31 edge, and after a Salem free-throw, Tessier scored a transition layup to give Westfield an 18-point lead, 48-32, less than four minutes into the second half.
Westfield maintained that lead, delivering a knockout punch midway through the second half when Johnson and Tessier delivered a pair of three pointers less than 40 seconds apart to open the lead up to 23 points, 71-48.
Westfield improves to 19-6. The Owls have won six straight, the last loss coming at Bridgewater State in overtime on February 3, and 14 of their last 15 overall.
Salem falls to 14-13 on the season. Vikings senior guard Bryan Ortiz scored his 1,000 career point on a free throw late in the first half. He led the Vikings with 20 points, while Drew Healy added 18. Jon Perez tallied 11 points and Anthony Hodges 10 for Salem.
