WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior guard Doug Alves scored 15 points to lead a balanced Owls scoring attack, as Westfield ground out a 71-58 win over Anna Maria College in a non-conference men's basketball game at the Woodward Center on Wednesday night .

The Owls led just 28-27 at the half, shooting a bleak 1-14 from behind the three-point arc.

Westfield edged away to lead 42-35 after a Juju Omot layup with 13:39 left. A couple possessions later, the Owls got back-to-back three pointers from Kuany Teng and Omot to extend the lead to 49-35 and force an Amcats' time out.

Another three pointer by Teng extended the lead to 52-37 with 10:35 left in regulation.   Westfield reversed its shooting trend, connecting on 7 of 18 three-point tries in the second half.

The Amcats cut the lead to as few as nine points, at 58-47 on a three pointer by Jakai Alexandre with 6:56 left to play, but could get no closer.

Alves, a transfer from Division II Frances Marion College, was playing in just his third game as an Owl after battling injury to start the season.  Omot finished with 13 points, and Teng added 11.  The Owls' Brandon Hamilton was dominant defensively, swatting away seven shots (two shy of the school record) and grabbing 12 rebounds and scoring eight points.

Hamilton now has 906 career rebounds, sitting in third place on the Owls all-time list.

Anna Maria was led by 12 points and eight rebounds from Jopaul Mckreith, and got 11 from Sean Zabari in limited action before he left with an apparent injury in the first half.    Alexandre and Gabe Armstead each added 10.

Westfield State improves to 5-3 on the season, while Anna Maria is now 4-6. 

The game serves as a preview of future MASCAC action, as the Amcats will join the league for the 25-26 season.

Westfield will travel to Amherst on Saturday, while Anna Maria will next play at Norwich on Saturday.