Men's Hoop Gets First Win; Sets Shot Block Record

WESTFIELD, Mass. –  Westfield State got 17 points and 17 rebounds from senior forward Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass./Tech) as the Owls picked up their first win of the 2022-23 campaign with an 81-72 win over New England College on the second day of the Rick Martin – Hampton Inn Classic at the Woodward Center on Saturday afternoon.

Westfield improves to 1-5 overall and was 1-1 in the tournament, while NEC drops to 0-5 and finished 0-2 in the Martin Classic, in which the pairings were pre-arranged for all four games.

The Owls finished with three players in double-figures in scoring, as Jeremy Remigio (Santo Domingo, D.R./Providence Central) netted 19 and JT Thompson (Columbia, S.C.) 18.  Joseph Meade (Westfield, Mass.) had a solid all-around game for the Owls with seven points, seven rebounds, and six blocked shots.   Led by Meade's six,  the Owls aso used their size advantage to block a school-record 14 shots in the game.

Hamilton had his best game of the early season for the Owls and was named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Pilgrims were led by 32 points from junior guard Kyle Inglis (Burlington, Mass.), who finished 10-22 from the floor and 12-17 at the free throw line. Alex Williams (Mirimar, Fla.)finished with 14 points and nine rebounds and was named as NEC's representative to the All-Tournament team.    Stravis Lutchman (Bradenton, Fla.) added 10 points.

The game was tight until midway through the first half, when the Owls' Thompson slammed home a follow up dunk off a missed shot that sparked a 12-4 Owls run.  Westfield kept the lead at a comfortable 8-10 point margin through the rest of the half, and let 40-32 at the half.

Westfield shot 18-34 (52.9%) from the floor in the first half, but also committed 12 turnovers which kept lead from widening even more.  NEC shot just 11-36 (30.6 percent) from the floor in the first half.

The Pilgrims wouldn't let the Owls get away in the second half, trimming the lead down to as few as five points, 61-56 after a three pointer from Lutchman with 7:31 left to play.

Westfield responded with back-to-back buckets from Hamilton and Remigo to push the lead back to nine, 65-56 with 6:45 left. 

NEC chipped the lead back down to five with 2:28 to play, but Westfield got a pair of impressive dunks from Hamilton in traffic, then Timmy Jacobus on the fast break to hold the lead.

Westfield finished with a 50-36 margin in rebounds.

Westfield will be off over the Thanksgiving week, returning to action on Thursday, Dec. 1, hosting Clark University in a non-conference game at the Woodward Center at 7:00 p.m.

#14 Middlebuy 91, Nichols 80

Fourteenth-ranked Middlebury got past Nichols College 91-80 in the final game of the Rick Martin – Hampton Inn Classic at Westfield State University on Saturday, behind 21 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists from Panthers' senior forward Alex Sobel.

Middlebury winds up as the defacto champions of the event, which featured pre-set pairings for all four games, as they improved to 2-0 on the season and finished 2-0 in the Martin Classic.   Nichols is now 3-2 and went 1-1 in the weekend tournament.

Sobel was named as the Panthers selection on the All-Tournament Team.

Middlebury led 36-30 at the half in a game that featured a clash of styles with Nichols' highly uptempo team looking to counter the Panthers' size advantage inside.

The Bison used a 13-4 run in the middle of the second half to turn a 50-46 deficit into a 59-54 lead on a pair of freethrows from Quincy Ferrbee with 9:32 left in the game.

Middlebury battled back, tying the game at 62-all on a Sam Stevens three pointer with 7:39 to play, and grabbed the lead back for good at 64-62 38 seconds later on a putback from David Brennan.   Brennan finished with 8 points and 11 rebounds, with eight of his boards coming on the offense end of the court.

Stevens led Middlebury with 22 points and added six rebounds and six assists, and Noah Osher added 20 points.  Evan Flaks came off the bench to score 11.

Nichols was led by 22 points and six rebounds from Tavon Jones. Matthew Alectus added 18 points while drawing the tough defensive assignment on Sobel.    Ferebee finished with 13, and Ty Rucker was named to the all-tournament team for the Bison after added 13 points and three steals.

All Tournament Team 

Brendon Hamilton - Westfield State
Alex Williams - New England College
Ty Rucker - Nichols College
Alex Sobel - Middlebury College