WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State got a quartet of outstanding performances as the Owls rode a big second half to a 99-67 win over Salem State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game at the Woodward Center on Wednesday night.
Westfield is now 13-6, 4-2 in the MASCAC, Salem is 9-8 and 3-3 in the league. The Owls move into a tie for second in the league standings with the win.
Juju Omot (Springfield, Mass./Central) led Westfield with 31 points, Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Tech) registered 24 points and 21 rebounds, Dom Strother (Edinburg, Va. / Woodstock Academy) chipped in with 22 points and nine boards, and Angel Price-Espada (Cambridge, Mass./Pope John) dished out 13 assists in a stat-sheet-stuffing performance for the Owls.
Salem State had trimmed the Owls lead to 52-47 at the 15:53 mark of the second half after back-to-back buckets from Salem's Jaden Castillo (Lawrence, Mass.). The Owls responded with back-to-back threes from Brendan Keaveny and Price-Espada and the Owls were off to the races, outscoring the Vikings 47-20 for the rest of the half.
Espada's 13 assists were two shy of the school record set by Jason Franklin in 1993. Strother had his best scoring game as an Owl, finishing 10-16 from the floor. Hamilton had the sixth-game of 20+ rebounds in his career.
Westfield ran out to a 21-6 lead in the first seven minutes of the game, fueled by Omot, who scored 15 of the Owls first 23 points. Omot's 31-point performance was a career best. He finished 12-21 from the floor and 4-8 from three-point land. He added seven rebounds and three steals.
Westfield kept the Vikings at arm's length throughout the half, but Salem used a 8-2 run in the last 1:46 of the half to chip away at the Westfield lead, before Hamilton completed a 3-point play off a lob pass from Price-Espada in the last second of the half. Westfield led 48-26 at the break.
Castillo netted 16 in the first half to lead the Vikings. He finished with 27 points on 9-18 shooting, 5-8 from three-point range. LJ Hicks (Gardner, Mass./Murdock) added 11 points and five assists for Salem, and Michael Makiej (Andover, Mass./Lexington Christian) finished with nine points and team high five rebounds.
Westfield out-rebounded Salem 54-31. The Owls shot a blistering 60 percent (21-35 from the floor in the second half, and were 53 percent from the floor for the game. Salem connected on just 37 percent of their shots for the game.
Westfield will next host Framingham State on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Salem will travel to Bridgewater State for a 3:00 p.m. tip on Saturday.