Parker Sparks Owls Past Blazers, 78-70

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior Kobe Parker (Chicopee, Mass.) scored 21 points off the bench to help guide the Owls past Elms College 78-70 in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday night from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass.

The Owls extend their win streak to three straight games and have also won five of their last six, moving to 6-2 on the season on a night where Owls head coach Rich Sutter picked up his 375^th victory with Westfield. The Blazers fall to 0-7 overall.

The Blazers opened the game on a 10-0 run, capitalizing on three Owls turnovers which led to a layup from Aaron Sanchez (The Bronx, N.Y.), a triple from RJ Mayfield (Springfield, Mass.), then a steal and layup from Adam Sarlan (Chicopee, Mass.).

With Westfield down nine points with 14:06 left in the half, Parker and Jason James (Ansonia, Conn.) checked into the game and provided a lift for the Owls. James connected on a baseline jumper, then on the next possession, Parker grabbed his own miss and finished through contact, converting the free throw for a three-point play to trim the Owls deficit to four points. In transition, Lid Moreland (Bridgeport, Conn.) found Parker on the fast break, falling to the floor while still delivering an accurate pass to Parker who finished at the rim to make it a two-point game.

Moreland then made a layup of his own to even the game at 16 apiece with 11:33 remaining in the half, capping a 9-0 run. Parker gave Westfield their first lead of the game with a corner three-pointer to make it 19-18. Consecutive layups from Kenney Rogers (Springfield, Mass.) increased the Owls lead to five points with 9:08 to play, which was the largest lead of the half for Westfield. The first half consisted of four ties and nine lead changes with a Xavier Lewis (Long Island, N.Y.) corner three giving the Owls a four-point halftime advantage, 44-40.

Elms recaptured the lead in the early stages of the second half after a steal and score from Aden Goffe (New Haven, Conn.) put the Blazers up 49-48. With just over 12 minutes to play in the game, Rogers scored a layup to give Westfield a 54-53 lead, then two free throws from A.Z. Allah (Springfield, Mass.) and layup in transition from Moreland opened up a five-point Owls lead with 8:05 to go.

The Blazers kept the game close entering the homestretch, trailing by just two before Parker stuck a contested three on an assist from Allah to boost the lead back to five points with 5:24 to play.

Six of the next eight points were scored by Westfield with Rogers finding a cutting Parker on the baseline for the layup to extend the lead to 68-59 with 3:14 left. Two possessions later, Moreland swung the ball into the corner where Parker drove the advantage into double digits, burying a dagger three-pointer for a 71-60 lead. Free throw shooting and defense down the stretch would seal the Owls win.

Parker needed just ten field goal attempts to tally 21 points, making eight of those shots while knocking down all three of his three-point attempts. Rogers led Westfield with a game-high 25 points, adding 11 rebounds and six assists for his fourth double-double of the campaign. Moreland added 17 points with five rebounds and four assists.

Mayfield led Elms with 15 points and was one of three double-figure scorers. Sanchez followed with 14 points, and Goffe chipped in ten points, six rebounds, and five assists off the bench.

Both teams shot similar percentages from the field with Westfield shooting at a 40.8% clip from the field (29-71 FG) compared to 39.7% (27-68) for Elms. The rebounding margin was nearly equal as well with the Owls holding a 45-44 mark. The Owls defense forced 18 Blazers turnovers which led to 19 points compared to just 12 Owls turnovers which generated 14 points for Elms.

Westfield State will remain home for their next game as the Owls take on Amherst College on Thursday at 6:00 P.M. from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass.