Owl Men Top Fitchburg State in Regular-Season Finale

Fitchburg, Mass.  – Westfield State senior guard JT Thompson scored 20 points to lead the way as Westfield State topped Fitchburg State, 84-57 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action on Saturday afternoon at Parkinson Gymnasium.

Westfield State improves to 10-15 overall and 8-4 in the MASCAC. The Owls have won seven of eight to finish the regular season, after playing a grueling early season non-conference schedule.   Fitchburg State is now 9-15, 4-8 MASCAC.

Knotted at 5-5 four minutes into the game, the Owls connected with five points from JT Thompson (Columbia, SC). The Falcons answered with a jumper from Joyner and a trey from Garcia to tie the score at 10. The Owls regained the lead (16-12) with a jumper from Brendan Keaveny (Quincy, Mass.).

A pair of layups from Garcia and Allen kept the game close at 26-18 Westfield, with six minutes to play. Westfield State countered with a layup from Kobe Parker (Chicopee, Mass.) and a 3-pointer from Thompson to extend the lead (33-20). The visitors closed out the frame with a layup from Hamilton and a pair from the charity stripe from Kumar Brown (Enfield, Mass.)

Trailing 48-27 in the second half the Falcons reeled off eight straight points including a tip-in from Allen and four points from Javon Taylor (Cambridge, Mass.), however, the Owls added a layup from Keaveny and a three-point play from Hamilton to pull away (65-40). Down the stretch the Falcons added buckets from Allen, Taylor and a layup from Clifford Fuakye (Worcester, Mass.).

Quincy Taylor paced the Falcons with 13 points and 15 rebounds for the double-double, while Allen added 13 points, and 9 rebounds.

For the Owls, Thompson had a game-high 20 points, and 3 rebounds as he was 8-13 from the floor and 4-7 from long range. Keaveny added 16 points, Brown had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Brendon Hamilton added 13 points and moved into 25th on the Owls all time scoring list with 921 career points.

Fitchburg State shot 22-for-56 (39.3%) from the field and (2-for-6) 33.3% from three-point range. Westfield State finished 32-for-59 (54.2%) overall and (8-for-16) 50% for beyond the arc

The Falcons held a 40-33 advantage on the boards, but Westfield forced 22 turnovers while committing just 11 of their own.

In a pre-game ceremony, the Falcons recognized seniors Tajahn Joyner (Amherst, Mass.), Mikal Garcia (Fresno, TX), Dayne Allen (Revere, Mass.), and Quincy Taylor (Boston, Mass.) for their contributions to the men's basketball team.

Both the Falcons and the Owls have qualified for the MASCAC tournament. They await the conference announcement for the tournament schedule.