Men’s Basketball Rick Martin/Hampton Inn Tournament Preview

Westfield, Mass. – The Westfield State men's basketball team will host the Rick Martin/Hampton Inn Tournament at the Woodward Center on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. The Owls will welcome opponents Northern Vermont- Lyndon, Castleton University, and William Paterson to this year's tournament. Westfield State will partake in their home opener of the season to open up the tournament as the Owls square off against Northern Vermont- Lyndon at 5:30 P.M. followed by Castleton and William Paterson at 7:30 P.M. The winners of each game will play in the championship game on Saturday at 2:00 P.M. The losing teams will also match-up in a consolation game at noon on Saturday.

Westfield State enters the tournament with momentum after a previous tournament championship at the WestConn TipOff last weekend. The Owls handled Sarah Lawrence in the opener, winning by 24 points. In the title game against Western Connecticut, the Owls erased a six-point halftime deficit on the back of junior JT Thompson (Columbia, S.C.) who scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half to lead the Owls to a 12-point win. Westfield State picked up where they left off in their last season in which the Owls racked up 20 wins, and finished 10-2 in the MASCAC to share the regular season title. The Owls would go on to win the MASCAC Championship. From the championship-winning team, the Owls return 2019-2020 MASCAC Rookie of the Year Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass,) who made an impact on the glass this past weekend, averaging 14.0 rebounds per game while adding 5.5 points per game and 2.5 blocks. Senior Justin Rennis (Springfield, Mass.) also returns for the Owls as he is currently the team's second leading scorer (13.5 PPG).

Northern Vermont- Lyndon enters the tournament with a 1-1 record. The Hornets return many important pieces to their roster including senior guard Zach Falkenburg (Bridgeport, N.Y.) who poured in 27 points, five rebounds, and five assists in the season opener against Bard. Returning junior Tyrese Harris (Fort Benning, Ga.) chipped in with nine points, ten rebounds, and six assists, and senior Luke Fredsell (Whitesboro, N.Y.) added 15 points. In the second game of the season against Vermont Tech, the Hornets outscored Vermont Tech by 21 points to cap off a furious comeback to win by four. In the last full season of action, the Hornets went 7-18 overall including a 4-10 record in the North Atlantic Conference.

In the second game of the night, Castleton State begins the tournament with a 2-1 record including victories over MCLA and SUNY- Cobleskill. The Spartans have a balanced scoring attack led by sophomore tandem Atty Jackson (Fonda, N.Y.), 13.0 PPG, and Joe Alamprese (Rensselaer, N.Y.), 12.7 PPG. Returning junior Remy Brown (Boca Raton, Fla.) figures to play an important role in the offense as he led the Spartans in scoring in the 2019-2020 season. In the 2019-2020 season, Castleton finished just 4-21, with a 3-13 Little East Conference record.

Castleton's opponent, William Paterson, opened their regular season Wednesday night with a 100-86 victory over The City College of New York. The Pioneers lit it up behind the three-point arc in the game, connecting on 13 of 26 three pointers. Graduate student Domenic Mignone (Rutherford, N.J.) led the way with 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds, while graduate student Brian Monaghan (Florham Park, N.J.) buried six of seven triples and shot nine of ten from the floor overall to collect 24 points. The Pioneers also return senior Adryan Lopez, who led the team in scoring in their abbreviated five-game season last year, as he averaged 13.0 PPG. The Pioneers finished 9-16 overall and 5-13 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference in the 2019-2020 season.

The Rick Martin/Hampton Inn men's basketball tournament is dedicated to Ricky Martin Cofield, a first-year member of the 2003 men's basketball team who tragically lost his life on October 16^th, which was the second day of preseason practice.

Live coverage of all tournament games will be on WestfieldStateOwls.com starting Friday, November 12 at 5:30 P.M.

Tournament Schedule:

Friday:

Northern Vermont- Lyndon vs Westfield State (5:30 P.M.)

Castleton University vs William Paterson (7:30 P.M.)

Saturday:

Consolation Game (12:00 P.M.)

Championship Game (2:00 P.M.)