Men's Basketball Wins Opener at Rick Martin-Hampton Inn Tournament

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State blistered the nets, shooting 55 percent from the floor for the game and 69.7 percent in the second half as the Owls ran past SUNY-Old Westbury, 97-65, in Westfield's season opener at the Rick Martin – Hampton Inn Tournament at the Woodward Center on Friday evening.

Westfield ran out to a 47-26 halftime lead, forcing 12 turnovers from the Panthers in the first half, which the Owls converted to 14 points at the other end.  The Owls used a 14-0 run over a five minute span late in the first half to build the big lead.

The Owls improve to 1-0 on the season, while Old Westbury slips to 0-3.  The Owls advance to tomorrow's 2 pm championship game, while the Panthers will play at noon in the consolation final.  Westfield will play the winner of the Clark (Ma.) – Albertus Magnus game

The Owls were led by 20 points from sophomore forward Kenney Rogers, and got 14 from junior guard Xavier Lewis.  Keith Mency added 13 points on six of seven shooting from the floor, with Joe Thomson adding 10 points and 11 rebounds in just 17 minutes of work.

Westfield held the Panthers to 27 percent shooting from the floor in the first half and just 34 percent in the game.

The Panthers were led by 16 points from Bradley Young . Imole Akinwale added 14  and 12 from Jermaine King,Jr.   Joel Ofori snagged 16 rebounds in the loss.

Game 2

In the nightcap,  Isaiah Earl scored 23 points to lead the way as Albertus Magnus College held off Clark University, 82-72 at the Woodward Center on the Westfield State University campus in the opening round of the Rick Martin-Hampton Inn Tournament on Friday evening.

Albertus will face host Westfield State in the championship game on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., while Clark will square off with SUNY-Old Westbury in the consolation final at noon.  Westfield defeated Westbury 97-65 in the first game here today

Aliaun Iscandari and Reid Neumann  led Clark (1-2) in scoring at 16 points apiece.  Boluwasefe John added 15 points    Quentin Pridgen finished with eight points, nine boards and five assists.

Albertus Magnus (1-2) led 39-30 at the half.  The falcons jumped out to an early lead and held the Cougars at bay throughout. Ta'Zhon Daniels and Ray Ford led the Falcons with eight points each, but Daniels had to leave the half midway through with an injury and did not return.  Quentin Pridgen led the Cougars with eight points and six boards.

In the second half, Clark closed the gap to as few as five on several occasions, the last at 64-59 on a Reid Neumann three pointer with 6:56 left, but AMC responded with seven straight points from Jayquan Kirkland to extend the lead to 12, and held close to that margin throughout.

Kirkland finished with 16 points for the Falcons.  Ray Ford, Jr. added eight points, seven rebounds and five assists.