Men’s Basketball Slips to Westfield State, 72-55

Fitchburg, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University men's basketball team fell to the Owls of Westfield State 72-55 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) match-up tonight at Parkinson gymnasium.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 55, Westfield State 72
Records: Fitchburg State (8-14, 2-7 MASCAC) | Westfield State (15-7, 8-2 MASCAC)

How It Happened

The Owls ripped off six straight points on three consecutive buckets from freshman Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass.) to open the game with a 6-0 run. The Falcons battled back and took an 8-7 lead on a good basket from freshman Xavier Betancourt (Tampa, Fla.).  After a dunk from senior Jordan Jones (Worcester, Mass.) Westfield State countered with a 13-6 run in the middle of the half to regain the lead (25-16). With just under four minutes to play Jones hit a pair of hoops and freshman Toskany Abreu ( Salem, Mass.) banged in a three-pointer to make it a four point game (27-23). Westfield would carry a 31-27 lead after 20 minutes.

After intermission the Owls reeled off a 7-0 run capped off with a three-point play from Hamilton. The Green and Gold got a jumper from first-year Keegan Sharp (Townsend, Mass.) to cut the lead to 38-29.  Westfield State then went on the offensive to take a 49-31 after a layup from senior Vawn Lord (Amherst, Mass.) with 13 minutes to play. Charles Doss (Fitchburg, Mass.) had a pair of layups to cut into the lead (60-44), however the visitors were too strong down the stretch and three straight from the charity strip from Jauch Green, Jr. (Hartford, Conn.) sealed the 72-55 final.

Inside the Numbers

• Abreau poured in a team-leading 12 points, while Jones added 10 points off the bench.
• The Owls were paced by Hamilton's game-high 18 points and 12 rebounds.
• Fitchburg State went 24-for-67 (35.8%) overall and (3-for-13) 23.1% from three point range.
• Westfield State shot 27-for-60 (45%) from the field and (2-of-10) 20% from beyond the arc.
• The Owls held a 48-35 edge on the glass.

UP NEXT

The Falcons will travel to Bridgewater State next Saturday to take on the bears in a MASCAC match-up starting at 3:00pm.