Westfield State 71, Worcester State 52
Westfield, MA --- Senior guard Ryan Mauer (Pittsfield, MA) scored a career-high 31 points to power Westfield State to a 71-52 victory over Worcester State on Saturday.
Westfield improves to 15-6 overall and 5-3 in the conference, while Worcester drops to 9-12 and 2-6.
Along with Mauer's explosive offense that included 19 second-half points, Westfield again played a stingy defense. The Owls are ranked first in the conference and 26th nationally in scoring defense, allowing 61.2 points per game.
"We played good team defense which allowed us to get out on offense a little bit," said Westfield State head coach Rich Sutter. "I thought Ryan had a great game.
"Twenty-one points allowed in a half is a good target for us," he added.
Westfield led 29-23 at halftime. Worcester State tied the score
at 37-all on a 3-point basket by Will Spont
(Bellingham, MA), who was the Lancers' only player in double
figures with 14 points.
The Owls then put away the game by going on a 15-2 run to take a
52-39 lead with 9:59 remaining. Westfield's biggest lead down the
stretch was 22 points.
Westfield committed 19 turnovers but it shot a sizzling 61 percent (28-for-46) from the field. Mauer was 13-for-18 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range.
"It was one of those days where everything felt good for me," said Mauer. "(Point guard Chris) Kinback found me in the right spots."
Also scoring in double figures was Westfield junior forward Matt Badjo (Worcester, MA) with 10 points. Sophomore forward Joe DiCruttalo (Franklin, MA) played well off the bench with nine points. Kinback, from Shrewsbury, had three assists, three steals and tied for team-high honors with six rebounds.
Worcester State' second leading scorer was senior forward Josh Barry (Sheffield, MA) with seven points; he also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Worcester only made 34 percent of its field goal attempts against Westfield, which ranks 22nd nationally in field goal percentage defense.
Courtesy of Westfield State Sports Information