WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State outscored the visiting Wheaton Lyons 54-38 in the second half on their way to a 91-73 victory at the Woodward Center on Wednesday, Dec. 8.
The Owls improve to 8-2 on the season and Wheaton drops to 5-6.
Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass./ Worcester Technical) led the way for Westfield with another double-double, pulling down 13 rebounds and tallying a team-high 22 points. The Owls dominated the paint behind Hamilton and Joseph Meade (Westfield, Mass./ Westfield) who added nine boards in the win.
Westfield led for the entirety of the first half with the high water mark coming halfway through the frame on a Justin Rennis (Springfield, Mass./ Sabis) 3-pointer that pushed the advantage to 13. Rennis finished with 18 points and blocked three shots.
The Lyons clawed back into the game when Lima Marckenley (Roslindale, Mass./ Xaverian Brothers) heated up behind the arc. Marckenley nailed four 3-pointers in the first half to bring the visitors within two at the break, 37-35. Marckenley finished with a game-high 26 points and was 6-11 from downtown.
Both teams traded baskets for the first five minutes of the second half before an Alex Carlisle (Saint Johnsbury, Vt./ Saint Johnsbury Academy) three pointer gave the Lyons their first and only lead of the night (49-48) with under 15 minutes to play. The Owls responded a minute later with a JT Thompson (Columbia S.C./ Dutch Fork) jumper assisted by Hamilton and never looked back, outscoring the Lyons 43-24 from that point on.
Westfield point guard, Jeremy Remigio (Santo Domingo, DR/ Central High School) was 6-9 from the field for 13 points and connected on eight assists. Kuany Teng (Manchester, N.H./ Bradford Christian Academy) was the only other Owl to score in double figures with 10, he also grabbed seven rebounds.
Carlisle finished the night with 16 points. Ty Murphy (Dedham, Mass./ Xaverian) added 13 off the bench in the setback and Evan Cook (Dunstable, Mass./ Groton-Dunstable) secured a team-high nine rebounds and four assists for Wheaton.
The Owls finished with a 48-20 advantage in points in the paint and were 22-28 from the charity stripe.
Westfield State heads to New York City this weekend for the CUNY York tournament. They open with Keystone College on Friday, December 10 at 5:00 p.m. This was Wheaton's last game of the fall semester wrapping up their non-conference slate. The Lyons open their NEWMAC schedule in the new year on Wednesday, January 5 against Coast Guard.