WESTFIELD, Mass. – Junior center Matt Devine (Pembroke) 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 hard-earned 73-52 Senior Night victory over Framingham State University on Tuesday, Feb. 14.
 
Westfield is 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 and 3-9.
 
Westfield outscored Framingham, 51-30, in the second half after a horrific 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).
 
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.
 
"I felt I was really in rhythm offensively," said Devine. "Coach (Rich Sutter) told me to keep my confidence up and that's what I tried to do. I really just tried to get to the basket.
 
"I stayed out of foul trouble (one personal) in the first half which allowed me to be more aggressive in the second half going for blocks," added Devine, who leads the NCAA Division III nationally in blocked shots per game (5.0).
 
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.
 
"We really preach defense during practice; we had good fullcourt defense and we relied on Matty for some blocks," said assistant coach John Gingras. "We changed it up a lot defensively we left Framingham off balance."
 
"The pressure and steals gave us great transition; we were really aggressive," said Devine of Westfield's second-half play. "We were really just in control."
 
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 then went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to take a commanding 54-36 lead.
 
"Lee hit a big three in the corner which really gave us a boost and the defense just kept playing consistently well," Gingras said.
 
Three other Owls besides Devine charted impressive statistics. The 5-6 Vazquez, ranked 18^th nationally in scoring (21.7) and second in steals per game (3.9), finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and seven steals.
 
"Framingham really shut down Lee and we got good ball movement," said Gingras. "We need to play like this more often and get more than just Lee to put up points."
 
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.
 
"I started off slow on offense so I focused on my defense," said Cooper. "In the second half we got the ball moving pretty well and everyone was scoring pretty easily."
 
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 led the Rams with 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Andre Santana tied for game-high honors with 19 points. While Westfield had four players in double figures, Framingham's third leading scorer only had four points.