WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior guard Lee Vazquez posted game highs of 29 points, eight steals and six assists to spark Westfield State University to an 82-66 non-conference men's basketball victory over Newbury College on Thursday, Jan. 10.
 
The Owls improved to 11-3 overall heading into their key conference game at Bridgewater State this Saturday. Newbury is 5-6 overall; the Nighthawks are 3-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference.
 
The 5-6 Vazquez poured in 22 of his points in the second half, including 17 points in the final 10 minutes when the Owls closed the game with a blistering 32-12 scoring run.
 
Trailing 54-50 halfway through the second half, Westfield cranked up its suffocating full court pressure defense that completely overwhelmed the Nighthawks.
 
Vazquez struggled most of the game to find his shooting touch, making only 5 of 17 shots from 3-point range, but the hard-working guard drained three 3-pointers in a three-minute span to give the Owls a 68-58 lead with 7:02 remaining.
 
The Owls' defensive blitzkrieg also led to easy layups as they took their biggest lead of 20 points, 82-62, with 1:17 remaining.
 
The tall and athletic Nighthawks held the lead for most of the opening 30 minutes. Newbury's biggest lead was 22-15 with 7:19 remaining but Vazquez canned a three-ball at the 6:59 mark to stop the visitors from pulling away.
 
Newbury led 32-31 at halftime and took its biggest lead in the second half, 49-44, with 13:15 remaining. The Owls finally took the lead for good with 9:45 remaining when sophomore guard Jordan Santiago made layup following one of Vazquez's eight steals.
 
Santiago, a former standout at Westfield High School, was Westfield's second leading scorer with 14 points; he also had six assists and three steals.
 
Senior forward Ryan White notched another double-double with 12 points and 122 rebounds and 6-7 senior center Matt Devine had eight points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.
 
Eric Watson led Newbury with 17 points and Tim Young and Greg Cabral added 11 and 10, respectively. Newbury was effective from 3-point range (9 for 20) with six players scoring from beyond the arc.
 
Westfield outrebounded Newbury, 38-26, and the Owls forced 18 turnovers. Westfield passed the ball well with 24 assists on its 34 field goals.