February 19, 2005
Westfield State 94 Ð MCLA 66
WESTFIELD Ð Sophomore guard Ricky Ogboin (Brighton) had 23 points and graduate student Vaso Jaukovic (Serbia/Montenegro) scored his 1,000th career point in WestfieldÕs 94-66 victory over MCLA on Feb. 19.
The Owls improved to 12-11 overall and 7-5 in the Mass. State Conference. They will be on the road next Wednesday either at Salem State or Framingham State in the semifinals of the conferenceÕs postseason tournament. MCLA finished at 8-17 and 0-12.
Jaukovic had 996 points entering the game and quickly reached the magic milestone on a 17-foot jumper from the top of the key at the 16:31 mark. He finished with 10 points, including a resounding breakaway slam dunk with 2:49 remaining in the game.
MCLA trailed by 17 points, 50-33, at halftime, but the Trailblazers closed to within nine, 61-52, with 13:39 remaining. With Ogboin and Jaukovic sidelined with four fouls, and two starters (Steve Martins, Mike Jurkowski) sitting out the game with injuries, the Westfield reserves thwarted the comeback.
Six Westfield players scored in double figures, including freshman guard Andy Deffer (Beverly) with 14 points. Deffer was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 3-for-3 from the foul line. Ogboin also shot well from the floor (9-11) and foul line (5-5).
Freshman guard Tony Collier (Colchester, VT) scored 18 points, incuding 9 of 11 free throws. Junior forward James Ogbunize (Springfield) contributed 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds and sophomore guard Gavin Illangakoon (Ellington, CT) had 11 points and five assists.
Senior guard Robert Mitchell (Brooklyn, NY) - the conferenceÕs leading scorer - led MCLA with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Junior guard Thad Broughton (Peabody) scored 16.
There were 48 fouls whistled, including 25 against Westfield. Three Westfield starters fouled out. The Owls again shot well from the field (52 percent), including 61 percent in the first half, and they were 25-for-32 from the charity stripe. MCLA canned 9 of 27 three-point attempts but only shot 50 percent (13-26) from the foul line.