Hoekstra Hits Career High In Owls Win

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State men's basketball survived a last-second shot attempt to defeat Wentworth Institute of Technology, 74-72 at the Tansey Gymnasium in Boston on Friday night.

Westfield led 74-72 with 15 seconds left in regulation, and the Leopards inbounding in their front court.  The ball worked its way to Wentworth's Colin Mannke, who drove the right hand side of the lane and lofted a floater that rattled off the back iron and went halfway down on the bounce before popping out.  The Leopards grabbed the offensive rebound but time ran out before the putback attempt was released and the Owls held on for the win.

Westfield improves to 6-2 on the season, while Wentworth is now 0-10.

The Owls had a balanced scoring attack with four players in double figures, led by 15 from Jason James.   Cam Hoekstra added career bests with 14 points and nine rebounds. AZ Allah finished with 14 and Xavier Lewis 13.   Owls' leading scorer Kenney Rogers had an off night with just five points on 1-6 shooting, but he dished out 10 assists for the second-straight game, after recording 10 as part of a triple-double on Monday night.

The game see-sawed back and forth for much of the night.  Wentworth led 38-36 at the half.   The Leopards led by as many as six points, at 54-48 on a jumper by Mannke with 12:57 left in the game.

The Owls chipped away and snagged their first lead at 61-60 on a layup from Hoekstra with 8:17 to play.

Dylan Olsen led three Leopards in double-figures with 17 points.

Westfield will finish off the fall semester schedule with a pair of games in New York next Tuesday and Wednesday, at John Jay College in Manhattan and Purchase College.