Hamilton's Double-Double Fells Elms, 87-54

WESTFIELD, Mass. –     Westfield State junior forward Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Tech) scored 21 points and grabbed 21 rebounds to lead westfield State to an 87-54 win over Elms College in a non-conference game at Picknelly Arena in Chicopee on Monday night.

Hamilton showed little rust from the short Thanksgiving break in posting his second 20-20 game of the season.  The Owls' 6-6 big man came into the game ranked sixth in the nation in rebounding at 14 per game.

Westfield jumped out to the lead on their first possession, with Hamilton hammering down a backdoor alleyoop dunk to set the tone for the evening.   Westfield led 39-33 at the half behind 11 points from Hamilton, and steadily pulled away in the second half.

Westfield limited the Elms to just 21 percent shooting from the floor in the second half, and the Owls dominated on the boards with a 56-32 rebounding edge.

JT Thompson (Columbia S.C./Dutch Fork) added 15 points for the Owls, with Michael Castillo (Northampton, Mass.) adding 12 points and seven rebounds while making his first start for the Owls.   Castillo has back to back games with double-figure scoring after playing just sporadically in Westfield's first six games.  Meesha Ohradka (Feeding Hills, Mass./Agawam) added seven points and five assists for Westfield.

The Owls improve to 6-2 on the season, while the Blazers are now 0-5.

Elms was led by nine points from David Lopez, Jr., while three players scored eight each for the Blazers.

Westfield will be back in action on Saturday, hosting Mitchell College in a non-conference game at the Woodward Center with a 2:00 p.m. tip off.  The game is part of a doubleheader, with the Owls women hosting Mitchell with a noon start.