Men's Basketball Eliminated from MASCAC Tournament at Westfield State

Westfield, Mass. – Sophomore guard Lee Vazquez (Attleboro, Mass.) scored a career-high 27 points and senior forward Chris Jurkowski (Belchertown, Mass.) and freshman point guard Andrew Morgan (Somerset, NJ) each had 17 points to lead Westfield State University to a 76-57 victory over Framingham State University in the MASCAC tournament quarterfinals Tuesday, Feb. 22.

Westfield (12-14), advances to the semifinals where it will play at No. 1 seed Salem State on Thursday at 7 p.m., while Framingham finishes the season 10-15.

Junior guard Marcus Mclaurin (Braintree, Mass.) led the Rams with 24 points. Senior guard Royce Veal (Dorchester, Mass.) was the only other player in double figures with 12.  Senior Brendan Carter (South Boston, Mass.) finished with a team-high nine boards, while freshman Tyrone Figueroa (Revere, Mass.) chipped in seven points.

Vazquez scored 17 of his points in the second half when the Owls were clinging on to a six-point lead, 41-35, with 13:26 remaining after leading by 18 points late in the first half.

With both teams saddled with foul trouble, Westfield responded with a 21-2 run to take a commanding 62-37 lead with 6:38 remaining. Vazquez scored 12 points during the big run, including two deep threes.

Jurkowski led the Owls to a 33-24 halftime lead with 13 first-half points, including a 3-for-3 effort from 3-point range.

Tough defense by both teams had the Owls only on top 12-7 midway through the first half. Sparked by the scoring of Jurkowski, Vazquez and Morgan, along with a long 3-point bomb from reserve guard Eric Vargaz, Westfield led by 18 points, 32-14, with 2:45 left in the first half.

But Framingham made a comeback as the Owls did not record a field goal for six-plus minutes until Jurkowski made a driving layup with 16:31 remaining in the game.

The teams had nearly identical field goal and rebounding statistics. Westfield was 22 for 56 from the floor, including 6 for 16 from 3-point range, while Framingham was 20 for 57. The Rams won the battle of the boards, 42-41.

Westfield only committed 10 turnovers against Framingham's harassing defense, while the Rams had 19 turnovers. From the foul line Westfield was 26 for 34, including 19 for 21 in the second half, while Framingham struggled from the line connecting on only 13 of 26.

The Owls posted the 19-point victory despite their leading scorer this season – sophomore center Matt Devine (Pembroke) – finishing with zero points. Devine – who fouled out with 5:27 remaining - did have a game highs of 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.

Release courtesy of WSU Sports Information.