Westfield State freshman Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass.) scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Owls to a 72-55 win over Fitchburg State in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's basketball on Saturday afternoon at Parkinson gymnasium in Fitchburg, Mass.
With the win, Westfield improves to 15-7 overall and 7-2 in the MASCAC, and takes over a share of first place in the conference. Fitchburg dips to 8-14 overall, 2-7 in the MASCAC.
The Owls ripped off six straight points on three consecutive buckets from Hamilton to open the game with a 6-0 run. The Falcons battled back and took an 8-7 lead on a basket from freshman Xavier Betancourt (Tampa, Fla.). After a dunk from senior Jordan Jones (Worcester, Mass.) Westfield State countered with a 13-6 run in the middle of the half to regain the lead (25-16). With just under four minutes to play Jones hit a pair of hoops and freshman Toskany Abreu ( Salem, Mass.) banged in a three-pointer to make it a four point game (27-23). Westfield would carry a 31-27 lead after 20 minutes.
After intermission the Owls reeled off a 7-0 run capped off with a three-point play from Hamilton. Fitchburg got a jumper from first-year Keegan Sharp (Townsend, Mass.) to cut the lead to 38-29, but Westfield State then went on the offensive to take a 49-31 after a layup from senior Vawn Lord (Amherst, Mass.) with 13 minutes to play.
The Owls finished with four players scoring in double figures, as Lord added 13 points, Marcus Collins (Cambridge, Mass.) added 11 and Jauch Green, Jr. (Hartford, Conn.) 10 .
Fitchburg State went 24-for-67 (35.8%) overall and (3-for-13) 23.1% from three point range, while Westfield State shot 27-for-60 (45%) from the field and (2-of-10) 20% from beyond the arc. The Owls held a 48-35 edge on the glass.
Abreau scored a team-leading 12 points, while Jones added 10 points off the bench for the Falcons.
Westfield will return home to host Bridgewater on Wednesday, Feb. 12 with a 7:30 p.m. tip off at the Woodward Center.