The Mitchell College men's basketball team dropped a 96-82 decision to Westfield State University on Sunday afternoon in non-conference action at the Yarnall Athletic Center in New London, Conn.

 

Jauch Green Jr. (Hartford, Conn./Cromwell) netted a game-high 33 points on 13-for-26 shooting to lead the Owls, who improved to 3-3 on the year. Vawn Lord (Amherst, Mass./West Springfield) contributed a double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds while Marcus Collins (Cambridge, Mass./Rindge & Latin) chipped in 16 points and Justin Rennis (Springfield, Mass./Sabis) added 10 points off the bench.

 

Hasani Williams (Miramar, Fla./Hallandale) paced the Mariners with 26 points on 10-for-20 shooting and also grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds. Matt Finke (Wolcott, Conn./Wolcott) finished with 18 points while Jacob Tully (Old Saybrook, Conn./Old Saybrook) supplied 13. 

 

The Owls trailed 45-37 at intermission but made up the difference with a 7-0 run to start the second half. Moody Bey (Springfield, Mass./Monson) was the catalyst, coming up with a pair of steals and handing out assists on all three WSU field goals. 

 

The score remained tight over the next several minutes until Westfield State pulled ahead for good behind a 9-0 run. A layup by Collins gave the Owls their first lead of the half with 14:21 to go, and the visitors quickly built the margin to 60-53 by the 12:30 mark.

 

Mitchell twice cut the deficit to four, the final time coming on a layup by Williams that made it 68-64 with 9:06 to play. That would be as close as the Mariners would get, however, as the Owls eventually pushed the margin to double digits.

 

Green scored 23 of his 33 points in the second half as WSU shot 63 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes. The Owls shot a season-high 51 percent in the contest and went 5-for-10 from deep. 

 

Mitchell (1-3 overall) will next host Wentworth Institute of Technology on Tuesday, November 26 at 6:30 p.m. Westfield State returns to action at home against Amherst College on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.