Owls Steal Victory at Purchase, 59-54

WESTFIELD, Mass. – A pair of late-game steals from Xavier Lewis (Long Island, N.Y.) and Jason James (Ansonia, Conn.) helped Westfield State hold on to a 59-54 victory at Purchase College in the final game of the 2025 season for Owls athletics on Wednesday afternoon.

Playing their second game within a 24-hour span, the Owls (8-2) found themselves trailing by seven after a layup by Maurice Western gave the Panthers a 50-43 lead with 6:53 remaining in the game.

A.Z. Allah (Springfield, Mass.) responded with a three-point play, finishing through contact at the rim, then making the free throw to cut the deficit to four points. After a missed three-pointer from Purchase, Keith Mency (Edgewater, N.J.) nailed a corner three, just the Owls third made triple of the game, to trim the Panthers lead to one point with 5:52 left, capping a 6-0 run.

Purchase (3-8) maintained a three-point advantage heading into the closing minutes of the game, and similar to how last night's 80-68 win at John Jay unfolded, the Owls were the better team in crunch time. Kenney Rogers (Springfield, Mass.) took over the game on the offensive side of the ball, converting a layup to make it a one-point game with 2:23 left.

On the next Panthers possession, Rogers forced a steal and on the Owls ensuing set, Rogers darted past his nearest defender on the baseline, scoring at the rim to put Westfield in front, 55-54 with 1:04 remaining.

The Owls stingy defense proved to be valuable in the final minute with Lewis' defensive pressure causing a turnover and steal at midcourt, setting up Rogers to bury a clutch baseline jumper as the shot clock expired to push the lead to three points with 19 seconds left.

Westfield managed to hold Purchase without a shot after a timeout, with Lewis staying in front of his man on a drive to the bucket, allowing James to swat the ball away and obtain possession where he passed the ball to Lewis who stuck a pair of free throws to clinch the Owls fourth straight win heading into the holiday break.

Rogers registered a double-double with a game-leading 21 points and 11 rebounds. Frontcourt teammate Joe Thomson (Sunderland, Mass.) also logged a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Lewis and Allah both collected ten points with Lewis continuing to front the Owls defensive efforts with three steals.

Trey Skeete led the Panthers with 18 points followed by Antuan Darden with 11 points.

Westfield delivered a gritty effort to pull off the comeback win as the Owls shot just 31.7 percent from the field. The Owls were aggressive in attacking the paint and getting to the stripe, doubling up the Panthers in makes at the line (16-8). The Owls converted 17 Panthers turnovers into 18 points, taking care of the ball on the offensive end with only nine turnovers, the fourth time in the last six games the Owls have posted single-digit turnover numbers.

Westfield State completes the 2025 portion of their schedule and will host the first home game of the 2026 year as the Owls take on Salve Regina on Saturday, January 3 at 12:00 P.M. from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass.