Brown's Late FT Lifts Owls Past Salem, 77-76

Kumar Brown (Enfield, Conn.) rattled home a free throw with 1.5 seconds left to lift Westfield State to a 77-76 win over Salem State in a hard-fought Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game at the O'Keefe Center in Salem, Mass. on Saturday afternoon.

Brown was fouled while going up for a layup after gathering a loose ball in the paint as the Owls looked for a game winning bucket.  Brown's first attempt of the two shot foul used the rim and the backboard before going down.

On the ensuing missed free throw and rebound, the Vikings called timeout, giving them 1.2 seconds to get off an answer, but Salem's long inbound pass was picked off by JT Thompson (Columbia, SC) to preserve the win for the Owls.

Westfield's Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass.) led all scorers with 23 points while adding grabbing nine rebounds.  Brendan Keaveny (Quincy, Mass.) went 5-8 from behind the arc to en route to a career-best 16 points off the bench in the win.

Jaden Castillo (Lawrence, Mass.) led the Vikings with 19 points, five steals, and three helpers while Chris MacDonald (Wakefield, Mass.) and Conner Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) netted 18 and 15 points, respectively, on the afternoon.

Westfield ran out to a 32-19 advantage to start the game.  The Owls would hold onto a 10-point advantage with 1:50 to play but a 6-0 run by the Vikings to close out the half made it a four-point game (37-33) going into the half.

Salem State tied the game at 70-all  on a bucket by MacDonald with 90 ticks remaining on the clock.

Westfield's Gerry McManus (Hudson, Mass.) gave Westfield a 76-74 lead with a three-pointer in the final minute, but an Owls foul sent Osorio to the free throw line where made both to tie the game at 76-all with 11.1 seconds remaining, before Brown's heroics.

Westfield State finished 13-15 from the line and was 10-20 on three point tries in the game.  McManus finished with 10 points and six assists, and Thompson added 13 points

The Owls are now 6-3 in the MASCAC and are tied for second in the league standings with three conference games remaining on the regular season slate.  Westfield improved to 7-14 overall on the season.

Salem dips to 6-16 and 3-6 in the league.

Westfield will be at home on Wednesday to host league-leading Worcester State on Wednesday with a 5:30 p.m. start at the Woodward Center.  At halftime, Westfield State will recognize the Athletic Director's 3.0 Honor Roll, celebrating the student athletes who have earned a 3.0 or higher grade point average with a presentation and reception.