Freshman point guard T.J. Baker (Staten Island, N.Y.) had 19 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and four steals to lead Westfield State to an 82-67 victory over Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 31.
The Owls improved to 10-7 overall and completed the first half of their Mass. State Conference schedule at 4-2. Mass. College is 1-18 and 0-6.
Westfield actually trailed, 59-58, with 8:56 remaining as the scrappy Trailblazers canned five 3-point baskets in the first 11 minutes of the second half to rally from an eight-point deficit. The Owls then went on an explosive 20-2 scoring spree over the next six minutes to survive the upset bid.
Baker led the Owls in scoring despite canning only 8 of 18 free throws. Freshman forward Dan Holbrook (Lexington) had 14 points and eight rebounds in Westfield’s balanced attack. Senior forward Vaso Jaukovic (Montenegro, Serbia) contributed 14 points, five rebounds and a team-high six assists, and freshman guard Ricky Ogboin (Brighton) finished with 12 points and six boards.
Mass. College sophomore guard Thad Broughton (Peabody) poured in a game-high 29 points, including 4 of 7 three-point attempts. Junior guard Robert Mitchell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) tallied 22 points.
The Owls out-rebounded Mass. College, 52-34, and only committed 10 turnovers.