WESTFIELD, Mass. – Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass./ Worcester Technical) led the Westfield State Owls to a 96-79 victory over William Paterson to win the Rick Martin Hampton Inn Tournament at the Woodward Center on Saturday, Nov. 13.
Hamilton earned tournament MVP honors by posting career- highs in points (32) and rebounds (22). The junior captain also chipped in three blocked shots and three assists.
The Owls scored 65 in the second frame and erased a 15- point deficit in the win. The second half offensive output set a new Westfield State school record for points in a single half.
The William Paterson Pioneers controlled play early on and went into the break with a 43-31 advantage. Domenic Mignone (Rutherford, N.J./ Rutherford) was 7-10 from the field in the first half to help stake the early lead and ended up with a game-high 34 points.
The Owls used a 13-0 run midway through the second half to tie the game on a Justin Rennis (Springfield, Mass./ Sabis) three pointer and take the lead with a Hamilton three point play the old-fashioned way, converting a lay-up and free throw. From there Westfield extended their advantage over the final 12 minutes of the contest.
Four Owls joined Hamilton with double-digit points, Rennis added 15, JT Thompson (Columbia S.C./ Dutch Fork) had 13, and Jeremy Remigio (Santo Domingo, DR/ Central High School) and Kuany Teng (Manchester, N.H./ Bradford Christian Academy) each pitched in 11. Remigio connected on 10 assists as well for a double-double.
The Pioneers got 15 points from Brian Monaghan (Florham Park, N.J.) and 11 from Nick Rodriguez (Redding, N.J./ Shasta) in the setback.
Westfield controlled the paint in the championship game, outrebounding the Pioneers 52-27.
Both teams return to action this week with home contests. The Owls host Western New England on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. and William Paterson faces off against Brooklyn College in a 7:00 p.m. tip off.
The first game of the day saw Castleton State run out to a big lead early, and hold on down the stretch for a 91-78 win over NVU-Lyndon in the consolation game.
Castleton led by as many as 27 points in the first half, leading 36-9 with 6:32 left in the half on a Kurgan Brown layup, and took a 44-27 lead into the intermission. The Spartans forced 13 Lyndon turnovers in the opening half. Joe Alampese led the Spartans with 12 in the first half.
The Hornets shot just 28 percent (8-28) from the floor in the opening half.
In the second half, Lyndon showed renewed enthusiasm and sawed away at the Castleton lead, getting three consecutive three pointers from Zach Falkenberg to trim the lead to just 10, 46-36 just two minutes into the second half.
The Hornets trimmed the lead to eight with 11:08 to play, but Castleton extended to a double digit lead, only to see Lyndon chip away again, trimming the lead to seven, 76-69 with 4:16 left on a three pointer from Max Milton.
Castleton answered with a made free throw and then and a three-pointer from Alampese to push the lead back to double figures with 3:14 to play and the Spartans were able to hold onto that cushion for the win.
The Spartans finished with five players in double figures, led by 18 from Darrell Hardge. Alamprese added 17 and 10 rebounds, and Remy Brown 15. Justin Scharzbeck had a double double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Falkenberg finished with a game high 24 for Lyndon State, with Luke Fresnell adding 16 and Mondwell Bukle 14.