Western New England College falls to Westfield State in first outing of second semester

Box Score

WESTFIELD, Mass. - Returning to action for the first time since the semester break, the Western New England College men's basketball team suffered a 99-75 setback to Westfield State in a non-league contest Thursday night (Jan. 7) at the Woodward Center.

Senior forward Asa Abbott (New Paltz, NY) had a game-high 24 points for the Owls after making 9-of-17 shots from the field, including 6-of-10 three-pointers. 

Freshman center Matt Devine (Pembroke, MA) contributed a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Freshman forward Charlie Rucker (Lynn, MA) and senior guard Derek Leab (Shrewsbury, MA) added 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Western New England College also had four players scoring in double figures with junior guard Chris Devine (Wilbraham, MA) netting 14 points coming off the bench.

Senior guard Rick Johnson (Springfield, MA) tallied 13 points and dished out seven assists while sophomore guard Andre Shaw (Jamaica, NY) also scored 13 points.

Junior forward Brad Thomka (Springfield, MA) contributed 12 points and had four assists.

Westfield State led 44-28 at halftime and moved to an 20-point advantage at 71-51 following a basket by Matt Devine at the 8:16 mark.

WNEC went on a quick 10-2 run and cut the margin to 12 at 73-61 following a rare four-point play by junior guard Andre Duncan (Bronx, NY) with 6:38 left.

The Owls (7-6) answered with seven straight points in 52 seconds to thwart the comeback attempt.

Western New England College played hard, but had a rough shooting night making only 35.7% of its field goal attempts (missing several layups in the process) and only 57.1% from the foul line.

Westfield State finished shooting 51.3% from the field and 75% from the charity stripe. The taller Owls also had a commanding 54-33 advantage off the boards.

The Golden Bears, who had a three-game win streak snapped, fall to 4-6.