WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior guard Justin Rennis scored a career-high 24 points to lead the way for Westfield State as the Owls posted a 110-76 win over Northern Vermont University-Lyndon in the opening game of the Rick Martin / Hampton Inn men's basketball tournament at the Woodward Center on Friday night.
Rennis finished 8-14 shooting from the floor, 3-5 from behind the arc, and 5-6 at the foul line while grabbing six rebounds and handing out five assists.
Brendon Hamilton added 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Kumar Brown added 18 points and five rebounds.
Westfield (3-0) ran out to a 54-31 halftime lead, with Rennis, Brown, and JT Thompson each scoring double figures in the half.
The Hornets (1-2) made a mild run at the Owls, trimming the lead down to as few as 14 points, at 70-56 in a Tyreese Harris layup with 12:51 to play, then again on a pair orf Max Milton free throws with 10:34 left.
From there, the Owls spurted away with a 24-8 run that gave Westfield a 98-68 on a Ty Johnson layup.
The Owls played 16 players with 14 different players scoring.
Zach Falkenberg netted 15 points and five rebounds to lead Lyndon, with Luke Fresdell adding 12 points.
GAME 2: Castleton State 70, William Paterson 82
Westfield, Mass. – Senior guard Adryan Lopez (Garfield, N.J.) scored a game-high 18 points to guide William Patterson to an 82-70 victory over Castleton State. Four Pioneers reached double digit scoring including senior Nick Rodriguez (Redding, N.J.) who collected 17 points and seven rebounds and graduate student Domenic Mignone (Rutherford, N.J.) added 17 points, six rebounds, five assists, and five steals. Junior Jadon Cepeda (West New York, N.J.) scored eleven points.
The Spartans were led by sophomore guard Jackson Atty (Fonda, N.Y.) who tallied a team-high 17 points. Sophomore guard Darrell Hodge (Miami, Fla.) flirted with a double-double, posting seven points and dishing out nine assists.
The Pioneers shot 43.1% from the floor (31-72) and 24.2% from behind the arc (8-33). The Spartans shot 40.4% from the field (23-57) and 27% from three-point range (10-37). William Paterson generated 27 points off turnovers to Castleton's six. The Pioneers also controlled the paint, outscoring the Spartans 38-26. Castleton held the edge in bench points 23-10.
Saturday Slate:
Westfield State will host William Paterson in the Rick Martin/Hampton Inn Tournament Championship at 2:00 P.M. from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass. Northern Vermont- Lyndon and Castleton will play in the consolation game tomorrow at noon.
Westfield State's basketball captains present flowers to Dana Martin, the mother of the late Rick Martin, for whom the tournament is named.