Green Approaches Triple-Double in Win

WESTFIELD, Mass.  –    Westfield State junior forward Jauch Green, Jr. (Cromwell HS/Hartford, Conn.) nearly posted a triple-double to lead Westfield State University to an 84-72 win over Baruch (NY) College in a non-conference men's basketball game at the Woodward Center on Friday afternoon.

Green racked up 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight steals for the Owls, shooting 9-16 from the floor and 8-11 from the foul line.

Westfield (7-5) led 41-34 at the half, and gradually extended its lead in the second half, leading by as many as 19 points midway through the second half.   Leading 53-42, Westfield used an 8-0 run, capped by a three-point play from Vawn Lord (West Springfield/Amherst, Mass.) with 12:55 remaining.

Baruch (7-3) managed to hang around, trimming the lead back down to as few as 11, 69-58 on a Joseph Zecchino (Verona, N.J.) three-pointer with 7:51 left.

The Owls were able to extend the lead back to  as many as 15 points, 74-69 as Green completed a 3-point play of his own with 3:02 to play to give Westfield a decisive advantage.  One more steal and a layup from Green put the Owls up 17 with 2:30 left before both teams emptied the bench.

The Owls were playing their first game after a 13-day break for finals and the semester break.  The Owls got 12 points each from Malik Pouncy (Sprinfield Commonwealth Acad/Mattapan, Mass.)  and Marcus Collins (Rindge and Latin/Cambridge, Mass.), and Chris Prophet (Central/Springfield Mass.)  finished with seven assists and six points from the point.

Baruch got 19 points and 13 rebounds from senior forward Andre Harris (Walt Whitman/Melville, N.Y.).  George Smyth, Jr. (Kearny, N.J.) added 16 points and five rebounds, and Bryler Paige (Christ the King/Brooklyn, N.Y.) and William Sixsmith (Holy Trinity/Plainview, N.Y.) each netted 10.  Jack Reese (East Hampton, N.Y.) dished out seven assists off the bench.

The Bearcats will next play tomorrow, hosting Rutgers-Camden at the ARC Arena at 3:00 p.m.

Westfield will be back in action on Sunday, hosting Roger Williams University at 12:00 noon in what will be the Owls final non-conference game of the year.  Admission to that game is free.