Owls Battle Past Rams in Conference Opener, 67-62

WESTFIELD, Mass. – A.Z. Allah (Springfield, Mass.) poured in a game-high 22 points as Westfield State pulled away then held on to a 67-62 victory over Framingham State in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference opener on Wednesday night.

Xavier Lewis (Long Island, N.Y.) and Jason James (Ansonia, Conn.) each added 14 points for the Owls which advanced to 9-3 on the season and 1-0 in the conference. The Rams drop to 7-5 overall and 0-1 in the MASCAC.

With the Owls trailing by one point entering the second half, Westfield built up a double-digit lead over the midway point of the half. Tied at 38, Allah made two free throws and converted a layup, then James converted back-to-back layups to increase the lead to six points.

Out of a Framingham timeout, James registered a steal which led to a layup from Lewis, then two possessions later, Jalen Sullivan (Bridgeport, Conn.) finished through contact at the rim, capping a 12-2 run to push the lead into double digits at 50-40 with 11:04 left in regulation.

Westfield maintained a ten-point lead with under nine minutes to go, but Framingham put forth a series of stops and scores to get back into the game. Joshua Saint Jean cut the deficit in half with a layup with 7:20 to play, then later in the frame, the Rams got a spark from Isiah Alexander who made a paint two and buried a triple to trim the deficit to one point at 55-54 with 5:41 left.

James halted the Framingham run with a layup, then the Westfield defense caused a turnover which led to a mid-range jumper from Lewis, extending the lead to four points with 3:18 remaining. However, the Rams continued to battle back, scoring the next four points with Alexander netting a jump shot to tie with 2:08 to go.

The rest of the game was decided at the charity stripe with the remaining 11 points all scored at the line. After two makes from the Rams with 13 seconds left, Lewis spun out of a double team and was fouled, making both free throws to make it a three-point Owls lead.

With Framingham looking to tie, Dyree Rogers missed a pull-up three. Allah pulled down the rebound and was immediately fouled with 1.1 seconds left. He made both at the line, securing the Owls five-point win.

Fallou Koite led the Rams with 14 points, 12 of which came in the first half. Saint Jean followed with 12 points and Rogers added 11 points behind stout Owls defense which held the Rams' leading scorer to 3-13 shooting.

The Owls defense played a pivotal role in the win, particularly in the second half where Westfield held Framingham to 28.1 percent shooting from the floor compared to 46.2 percent in the first half. The Rams held a plus-nine advantage on the glass (45-36) but fell to the Westfield defense with 16 turnovers compared to eight for the Owls.

Westfield State will return home for their next game on Saturday as the Owls host Worcester State for a MASCAC contest at 2:00 P.M. from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass. where Owls head coach Rich Sutter is on milestone watch after recording his 399^th career victory tonight.