Owls Men's Basketball Set To Host Title Tilt on Saturday

WESTFIELD, Mass. —Top-seeded Westfield State (20-6) men's basketball hosts #2 Salem State (12-14) in the the MASCAC Championship Game on Saturday, March 1 at 1:00 p.m.   The winner of the game earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

HOW TO WATCH: Come out and support the Owls as they vie for the MASCAC title!   Tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for non-students and senior citizens. Westfield State students receive free admission with a valid ID, while staff and faculty can attend for free with an athletic pass. Children 12 years old and under also receive free admission.   If you can't make it in person, live stats are available at WestfieldStateOwls.com, with a live video stream on WestfieldStateOwls.com or the MASCAC.TV app.

THE MATCHUP:  Westfield and Salem come into this one in a 1-1 draw in the season series, as both teams were winners were on the road this season. In the first matchup, the Owls visited the Vikings at the end of January where Westfield won 97-85, but Salem played spoiler on the Westfield senior night in an 82-81 victory for the Vikings last week.

The Vikings come in on a three game streak with a win in their senior night over Fitchburg, the win over the Owls, and then a MASCAC semifinal win over Worcester State in a 77-74 game. Nicholas Martinez (Revere, Mass.) had a game-high 20 points to help the Vikings sail past the Lancers.

The Owls played great defense to soar past Framingham, 83-67 in the MASCAC semifinal on Thursday night. as Westfield forced 27 turnovers and that led to 58 points scored off turnovers. On offense, Westfield also scored 56 points in the paint scoring both in transition and drives to the bucket.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: For the Owls, Lid Moreland (Bridgeport, Conn.) led the scoring efforts in the semifinal with 20 points along with five steals. That performance boosted Moreland's season total for points per game to 17.3, good for seventh in all of the MASCAC. Moreland also averages 2.5 steals per game, which is good for second in the conference.

In his first MASCAC playoff game in his career, Kenneth Rogers, Jr. (Springfield, Mass.) notched 15 points along with five assists and four steals. Rogers, Jr. averages a league leading 19.7 points per game, he averages 10.6 rebounds per game, which also leads the MASCAC. Rogers, Jr. also facilitates offense as he averages 3.9 assists per game, tied for third in the conference with teammate Xavier Lewis (Long Island, N.Y.).

Lewis finished the game with ten points along with a game-high seven assists. Lewis was also one of two Owls to net multiple three-pointers alongside Timmy Jacobus (Willemstad, Curacao). Jacobus went two-for-three from beyond the arc on Thursday, which boosts his season 3-pt percentage to a MASCAC leading 48.7 percent.

Eric Johnson (Houston, Texas) has been the anchor in the middle for the Owls, as in the semifinal game he had ten points, seven rebounds (four of which were offensive boards) and nabbed four steals along the way. Johnson is the most efficient player on the team as he averages 51.9 percent on field goals, a tally places him fourth in the MASCAC in shooting percentage. Johnson also averages 1.1 blocks per game, which is good for third in the league.

On the other side of the floor for the Vikings, Salem has three players in the top five in the MASCAC in points per game with Martinez leading the pack with 18.1. Martinez shoots 48.8 percent from the floor as that is the Vikings most efficient shooter. Tyrese Rho (Boston, Mass.) averages 18.0 points per game, he is also shooting 51.9 percent on field goals in conference games. Omri Merryman (Lynn, Mass.) averages 17.5 points per game and has led the conference for most of the year in three-point percentage with a 46.2 percent. Merryman averaged making 3.0 three points per game with a conference leading made 79 three-pointers this year.

The Owls won the semifinal game with a fast paced and solid defensive pressure in the back court to force turnovers and easy points. Last time these two met, Westfield forced Salem to turn the ball over 19 times and will look to expand on that and use the home court advantage with a loud crowd at home to try to take home a fourth MASCAC Tournament title under coach Rich Sutter's guidance.