Moreland Posts Career-High 33 Points, Owls Comeback Effort Falls Short at Worcester

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior guard Lid Moreland (Bridgeport, Conn.) posted a career-high 33 points but Westfield State was unable to track down a balanced Worcester State scoring attack, falling 89-85 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game from Brissette Court in Worcester, Mass. on Saturday afternoon.

The defeat gives Westfield their second loss within conference play and are now tied in the loss column with both Worcester and Salem State. The Owls are 7-2 in the MASCAC and 17-5 on the season while the Lancers have now won four straight games, improving to 9-12 overall and 6-2 in league play.

The game began as a high octane, up-and-down matchup between the two sides with the both sides combining for 16 threes and 51.4 percent shooting. The Lancers raced out to an early eight-point lead just 1:46 into the game with Worcester connecting on four of their first five shots to open a 10-2 lead.

With Westfield down seven, Moreland answered an Ayme Daguilh (West Boylston, Mass.) triple to trim the deficit to four points, then consecutive baskets by Angel Price-Espada (Cambridge, Mass.) tied the game at 23, punctuating a 6-0 run.

Kenneth Rogers, Jr. (Springfield, Mass.) hit a three at the 11:46 mark of the first half to give the Owls their first lead of the game at a two-point lead before Suubi Nkugwa (Chelmsford, Mass.) responded with a triple of his own to put Worcester in front.

The lead traded hands throughout the half until Worcester ripped off a 12-0 run, seven of which came from Nkugwa who gave Worcester a 44-33 advantage with 6:57 remaining in the half. The lead stayed at ten points until Xavier Lewis (Long Island, N.Y.) nailed a three, then Kobe Parker (Chicopee, Mass.) rejected a layup inside in the closing seconds of the period to make it a 54-47 game at the break.

In the later portion of the second half, the Owls began to cut into the Lancers lead. Trailing by seven with 7:17 left, Moreland made back-to-back layups to close the gap to three points at 73-70 with 6:32 remaining. Sam Davies (Worcester, Mass.) scored a layup to push the lead to five before Eric Johnson (Houston, Texas) grabbed an offensive rebound and put back a layup on the next possession to make it a three point game once again.

Brandon Goris (Bronx, N.Y.) made two free throws on the other end, then Moreland spotted up from the wing and buried a three to make it a one possession game with 3:10 to play. The Owls had two chances to take the lead in the next few possessions, but were unable to hit a three eventually leading to a strong and-one finish on the Lancers end from Jaylen Kirkland (Gardner, Mass.) followed by an Owls turnover and a layup from Davies to extend the Worcester lead to seven points with 1:08 left in the game.

The Owls would refuse to go down without a fight, however. A.Z. Allah (Springfield, Mass.) split a pair of free throws, then after a miss from Davies, Moreland came down the floor and connected for his fourth three of the game to cut the deficit to 87-84 with 29 seconds left.

Westfield was forced to intentionally foul resulting in one make from Kirkland. Moreland pushed in transition off the missed free throw and drew a foul, making the first and missing the second with the rebound finding Goris who was immediately tied up by Allah, giving the Owls possession of the jump ball down three points.

Despite the Owls efforts, they were unable to hit a game-tying three, which forced the Owls to foul with five seconds left where Goris put the game out of reach with a free throw.

Moreland shot over 50 percent in the game in the 33-point effort, knocking down 13 of 25 shots while also securing eight rebounds, six of which coming on the offensive glass. Timmy Jacobus (Willemstad, Curacao) added 14 points and ten rebounds while Johnson delivered a strong second half for the Owls, scoring all 12 of his points in the final period.

Kirkland led Worcester with 24 points and was one of five Lancers players in double figures. Daguilh followed with 19 points while Goris collected 18 points.

After a hot shooting start for both teams in the first half, both teams struggled from the floor in the second half as the Owls finished by shooting just 39.7 percent for the game with Worcester a notch above at 45.3 percent.

Westfield State will return home for their next game as the Owls take on Fitchburg State in a MASCAC battle from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass. on Wednesday at 5:30 P.M.