WESTFIELD, MA. – Senior Dennis Norford (West Haven, CT) notched his 1000^th career point but it wasn't enough as Westfield State junior guard Lee Vazquez's 31 points, eight rebounds and eight steals and junior center Matt Devine 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks powered Westfield State University to an 80-66 victory over Fisher College in its home opener on  Tuesday, Nov. 22.

Norford sunk a lay-up with 1:57 left in the 2^nd half for the last of his 16 points on the evening to enter the Fisher College history books. He now sits at 1001 career points in 78 games played. 

Norford was just 5-16 from the floor as Fisher only shot 30 percent from the field but it stayed within reach by sinking 22 of 30 free throws. Elijah Chisholm and Kyle Murphy each scored 10 points to go along with Dennis' team high 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Fisher Drops to 2-5 on the season while the Owls improve to 3-0.

Vazquez scored 17 first-half points to lead Westfield to a 40-27 lead at the intermission. He was held scoreless in the first 10 minutes of the second half as Fisher sliced the Westfield lead to five points, then the 5-6 exploded for 14 points in the game's final 9:44, including 11 points in the final 3:27.

The Owls trailed early 8-7 then got their fast break and full court press clicking to take a 25-12 lead with 7:47 left in the first half. Their biggest lead of the game was 16 points, 34-18, at the 4:39 mark.

Fisher battled back to cut the lead to five points twice in the second half, including a 53-48 margin. Vazquez began his scoring blitzkrieg by canning two free throws for a 55-48 advantage with 9:44 remaining. Vazquez drained a huge 3-point basket to give Westfield a 65-57 lead with 3:27 remaining. Sparked by his 11 points, Westfield outscored Fisher, 18-9, in the final 3:27.

The Owls shot 49 percent from the field. Vazquez was 10 for 20 from the floor, including 5 for 11 from 3-point range.

The Falcons will take a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday before hosting Colby College, next Tuesday November 29^th, at Fectau-Leary Gym in Lynn, MA. Norford will look to climb up Fisher all-time leading scorer list and Coach Lindberg will looking to add to his 100 career victories, an achievement he earned with last Sunday's victory of Connecticut College.