DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Lee Vazquez scored 10 of his game-high 26 points in a 15-2 second-half run to lead Westfield State University to a 73-67 victory over Stevens University of Maryland in the Daytona Beach Shootout on Monday evening, Dec. 19.
 
The Owls improved to 7-3 and will play Scranton (Pa.) University on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. Stevenson dropped to 2-7 after sustaining another close loss.
 
Led by Vazquez's scoring blitzkrieg, Westfeild erased a 45-43 deficit to take a 58-47 lead with 10:41 remaining. Travis Nally gave the Owls' the lead for good, 46-45, by draining a 3-point basket at the 13:16 mark.
 
Vazquez then scored four field goals, including two 3-points bombs, in a span of one minute and 32 seconds. The 5-6 guard capped the scoring run with a steal that led to a Grant Cooper layup.
 
Stevenson sliced the Westfield lead to six points, 71-65, with 31 seconds remaining then Nally and Cooper each made a free throw in the closing seconds.
 
The Owls got off to a slow start, trailing 7-2 after the opening three minutes. Westfield went on a 12-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 14-7 lead. Stevenson regrouped to regain the lead but Westfield led at halftime, 34-33, on a Nally jumper in the paint with one second remaining.
 
Vazquez also recorded four steals in the Owls' balanced attack. Cooper finished with 15 points and eight rebounds and Nally contributed 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. Matt Devine - Westfield's 6-7 junior center – was a force inside once again; he totaled 11 points, six assists and seven blocks before fouling out late in the game.
 
In a key statistic, Westfield shot 54 percent from the field while Stevenson shot 37 percent (26 for 71), including a 5 for 22 effort from 3-point range. Westfield was 4 for 11 from beyond the arc.
 
Greg Collins led Stevenson with 23 points and 11 rebounds.