Trailblazers beaten at the buzzer, fall to Westfield 69-68

Westfield, MA- Westfield State's Matt Devine, converted a layup with just 0.3 seconds remaining to lift the host Owls past MCLA 69-68 in MASCAC action.  The loss was MCLA's third straight and drops the Trailblazers to 7-15 overall, 4-5 in league play.  The Owls improve to 14-9 overall and sweep the season series from MCLA, moving to 6-4 in the conference.

The wild final minutes saw MCLA hold a three point lead until Westfield's Grant Cooper converted a layup with 1:04 to play pulling the Owls within one.  Cooper came up with a huge block on the defensive end, giving the Owls possession with 30 seconds left.

MCLA employed a half court trap which wreaked havoc all evening.  The defense came up huge again, this time forcing Westfield's 23rd turnover of the evening.  Forced to foul, the Owls sent Trailblazer Chris Harris to the line.  The senior, who had a game high 19 points, missed both free throws setting up the frantic final possession.

After a timeout, Westfield was inbounding at halfcourt.  MCLA double teamed Lee Vazquez, the Owls leading scorer, and forced a deflection into the Owls backcourt.  With time winding down, Vazquez got the ball ahead to Cooper who drove to the free throw line.  He drew the MCLA defender up before dishing to Devine. 

Devine's layup dropped with hardly any time left on the clock.  MCLA did not get off a shot attempt.

A back and forth affair, the game saw ten lead changes and four ties.  Westfield led for much of the second half until MCLA regained the lead 58-57 with 6:40 to play.  Westfield never led again until Devine's bucket at the end.

MCLA's Harris had his best game of the season netting 19 points on 8-9 shooting.  Vernon Cross added 14 points, while Tyriq Rochester added 11. The MCLA bench outscored the Owls 34-5.

For the Owls, Devine finished with 16 points, but was just 5-13 from the floor.  Cooper finished with 16 as well, completing the double double with 10 rebounds.  Ryan White chipped in with 12, and Vazquez, the MASCAC's leading scorer, was held to 11.

Each team committed 23 turnovers in the game.  The Owls shot poorly from three point range, going just 1-11 on the night.

MCLA will look to get back on track Saturday when they host Framingham State on Senior Day at 3pm.