Men's Basketball Closes Season with 73-52 Loss at Westfield State
Westfield, Mass. – Junior center Matt Devine (Pembroke, Mass.) led Westfield State University's balanced attack with game-highs of 19 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots to lead the Owls to a 73-52 victory over Framingham State University on Tuesday evening in MASCAC men's basketball action.
Westfield is now 15-9 overall and 7-4 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) with one regular season game remaining, this Saturday at Fitchburg State. Framingham concludes the regular season 9-16 overall and 3-9 in the conference.
Westfield outscored Framingham, 51-30, in the second half after a sloppy first half in which the teams battled to a 22-22 draw. There were more rebounds (45) than points scored in the first half as the teams shot a combined 26 percent (16-for-61) from the floor.
Devine only had two points, five rebounds and a block in the first half, but he picked up the pace in the second half with 17 points, eight boards and five rejections.
The Owls dramatically improved offensively in the second half, shooting 50 percent from the field, while they limited the Rams to 29 percent field goal shooting the entire game. The Owls' defensive effort comes as no surprise as they lead the nation in blocked shots per game (7.8) and field goal shooting defense (36 percent). They blocked 10 Framingham shots, including six in the second half.
Westfield began its second-half assault when high-scoring junior guard Lee Vazquez drained a three-ball from the deep corner for a 35-27 lead with 15:38 remaining. Westfield led 44-36 at the 11:14 mark then went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to take a commanding 54-36 lead.
Three other Owls besides Devine charted impressive statistics. The 5-6 Vazquez, ranked 18th nationally in scoring (21.7) and second in steals per game (3.9), finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and seven steals. Junior forward Ryan White posted a double-double with 13 points and 13 boards and freshman forward Grant Cooper racked up 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.
The Owls only shot 38 percent from the field (27-72) for the game, but they did shoot well from the foul line, canning 16 of 19 free throws.
Framingham made just 18 field goals in 62 attempts, including a 4 for 19 effort from beyond the arc.
Tyrone Figueroa (Revere, Mass.) led the Rams with a solid all around game with 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Freshman forward Andre Santana (Worcester, Mass.) tied for game-high honors with 19 points.
Release courtesy of WSU Sports Information.