WESTFIELD, Mass. – Junior center Matt Devine (Pembroke) made a lay-in with 3/10ths of a second remaining to rally Westfield State University to a 69-68 victory over MCLA on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
The thrilling comeback victory boosted Westfield's record to 14-9 overall and 6-4 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC). MCLA is 7-15 and 4-5.
The Owls closed the game with a 6-0 run in the final 2:29, capped by Devine's dramatic bucket off a beautiful assist from freshman forward Grant Cooper (Northampton).
After MCLA's Chris Harris missed two free throws with 12 seconds remaining, Cooper grabbed the rebound and Westfield called a timeout with 6.9 seconds remaining.
The game-winning shot was far from textbook. Cooper inbounded the ball near the scorer's table to Lee Vazquez, who lost control of the ball and chased it down near the MCLA left corner baseline.
The Trailblazers made a critical error as two of their players harassed Vazquez near their own baseline. Vazquez found Cooper open near midcourt and the 6-4 forward drove to the Owl basket, creating a 2-on-1 situation.
Cooper looked at the clocked and it appeared that he was going to take a heavily defended floater in the paint. But at the last instance he lofted the ball to the 6-7 Devine, who calmly dropped it in the basket for the game-winning points.
"Coop told me he was going to look for me no matter what and he got the ball to me and I just put it in the basket," said Devine.
"It was supposed to go to Lee but he fell into a trap and he got the ball out to me," Cooper said. "I looked at the clock and was going to put up a floater but then I saw Matt underneath the basket."
Westfield head coach lauded Cooper's overall performance. Cooper posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and also had five assists and three blocks.
"It was Grant's best performance of the year; he almost won the game single handedly," said Sutter. "The play was supposed to be a high pick and roll but when it broke down Coop handled it well."
"I've been working hard and it's good to see that hard work paying off," said Cooper. "The whole team stuck together and it was a big win."
The Western Mass. rival were tied at halftime, 28-28, and the Owls led by single digits, the biggest margin of six points, through the first 13 minutes of the second half.
But MCLA's depth and foul trouble began to wear on Westfield. MCLA took a 58-57 lead on a jumper by 6-6 sophomore Tyriq Rochester (Orange/Mahar Regional) with 6:40 remaining.
The Trailblazers led 64-63 with 3:15 remaining then scored their final four points on a Vernon Cross layup following a Rochester steal and two free throws by Rochester.
Westfield made it 68-65 on a Vazquez jumper at the 2:29 mark. Cooper dropped in a layup at the 1:04 mark for a 68-67 score. Cooper then registered block on a layup attempt by Cross, Vazquez grabbed the rebound, and Westfield called a timeout with 32 seconds remaining.
But Vazquez was trapped in the frontcourt with 14 seconds remaining and MCLA gained possession on a jump ball. This set the stage for the dramatic finish after Cooper fouled Harris with 12 seconds remaining.
"We definitely struggled but I think this game is going to create a spark for the rest of the season," said Sutter. "We have to play better defensively and stay out of foul trouble the rest of the way."
Devine tied Cooper for team-high scoring honors with 16 points. Devine grabbed nine rebounds and dished out a game-high seven assists, but the nation's leading shot blocker (5.0 per game) only had one rejection. Devine, Cooper, and Vazquez all finished with four fouls.
"Honestly, I did not play well, especially defensively, and I missed a lot of my free throws," said Devine.
Vazquez, ranked 16th nationally in scoring (22.2 points per game) only scored 11 points. Vazquez finished with five steals; he ranks second nationally in steals per game (4.7).
Junior forward Ryan White scored 12 points in Westfield's balanced attack.
Harris scored a game-high 19 points. Cross contributed 14 points and Rochester had 11 for the Trailblazers, who played 16 players.