WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State men's basketball celebrated senior day in style, as all three graduating seniors scored in double figures as the Owls blew out Mitchell College, 107-68 at the Woodard Center on Wedneday evening.
Westfield handed Mitchell (20-4) just their fourth loss of the season, while the Owls improve to 9-15 overall.
Westfield was led by 25 points and 17 rebounds from senior forward Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass./Tech) , and got 22 points and seven assists from senior guard J.T. Thompson (Columbia, S.C. / Dutch Fork) , and 16 points and 10 rebounds from grad-student forward Kumar Brown (Enfield, Conn.).
The Owls caught the Mariners flat-footed after the senior day ceremonies, running out to early leads of 7-0 on a Brown layup and then 14-4 on a Brown free throw.
Westfield led 47-33 at the half, shooting a blistering 58.3 percent from the floor and dominating the glass with a 29-16 edge in rebounds at the break, which included a pair of put-back dunks from Hamilton and Brown to excite the senior day crowd.
Westfield limited Mitchell to 32.5 percent from the floor (13-40) in the first half and the Mariners were 0-7 behind the three-point arc.
The second half was more of the same. Westfield blistered the nets with record 23-30 shooting (76.7 percent from the floor) and 8-10 (80 percent) from three-point range in the second half.
Westfield's Brendan Keaveny (Quincy, Mass.) added 18 points and Timmy Jacobus (Willemestad, Curacao) 11 on 3-5 shooting from long range to give Westfield five players in double figures.
DaeJon Pendleton (Haverhill, Mass.) handed out seven assists for the Owls.
For Mitchell, Alfonzo Stokes (Bloomfield, Conn.) led the way with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists. Mikey Buscetto (Waterford, Conn.) was the only other Mariner in double figures with 13, as he connected on just 1 of 7 from three-point land. Adam Gardner (North Charleston, S.C.) added seven points off the bench
Westfield fell to Mitchell, 80-79 on the road earlier this season, in a rare home-and-home series for non-conference opponents. The Owls have now won six of their last seven games, dating back to January 26.
Westfield set a school record by handing out 30 assists in the game, and the 76.7 percent field goal shooting in the second half set another school mark.
Hamilton moved from 30th to 26th on the Owls career-scoring list with 908 points. Gavin Illangakoon '07 is the next target with 913. Hamilton also entered the game tied for fourth in career rebounds with Marcus Collins '20 with 777, with 17 tonight Hamilton vaults into fourth place alone with 794, and needs 10 more to pass Ray Glynn '69 for third.
Thompson drilled the 100th three pointer of his career, he currently sits in eighth place on the Owls' all-time 3-point list, while playing two seasons for Westfield after transferring from Div. II Limestone College.
Westfield recognized Hamilton, Brown, and Thompson, as well as senior cheerleaders Becca Hudson, Haley Shea, Brynn Friedhaber, Kayla Tompkins, and Ayanna Henry in the pregame festivities.
Westfield will be back in action on Saturday, as the Owls close out conference and regular-season play on Saturday with a noon tip off at Fitchburg State.
Mitchell will travel to Eastern Nazarene on Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. tip off.