WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State got 17 points and 17 rebounds from senior forward Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass./Tech) as the Owls picked up their first win of the 2022-23 campaign with an 81-72 win over New England College on the second day of the Rick Martin – Hampton Inn Classic at the Woodward Center on Saturday afternoon.
Westfield improves to 1-5 overall and was 1-1 in the tournament, while NEC drops to 0-5 and finished 0-2 in the Martin Classic, in which the pairings were pre-arranged for all four games.
The Owls finished with three players in double-figures in scoring, as Jeremy Remigio (Santo Domingo, D.R./Providence Central) netted 19 and JT Thompson (Columbia, S.C.) 18. Joseph Meade (Westfield, Mass.) had a solid all-around game for the Owls with seven points, seven rebounds, and six blocked shots. Led by Meade's six, the Owls aso used their size advantage to block a school-record 14 shots in the game.
Hamilton had his best game of the early season for the Owls and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Pilgrims were led by 32 points from junior guard Kyle Inglis (Burlington, Mass.), who finished 10-22 from the floor and 12-17 at the free throw line. Alex Williams (Mirimar, Fla.)finished with 14 points and nine rebounds and was named as NEC's representative to the All-Tournament team. Stravis Lutchman (Bradenton, Fla.) added 10 points.
The game was tight until midway through the first half, when the Owls' Thompson slammed home a follow up dunk off a missed shot that sparked a 12-4 Owls run. Westfield kept the lead at a comfortable 8-10 point margin through the rest of the half, and let 40-32 at the half.
Westfield shot 18-34 (52.9%) from the floor in the first half, but also committed 12 turnovers which kept lead from widening even more. NEC shot just 11-36 (30.6 percent) from the floor in the first half.
The Pilgrims wouldn't let the Owls get away in the second half, trimming the lead down to as few as five points, 61-56 after a three pointer from Lutchman with 7:31 left to play.
Westfield responded with back-to-back buckets from Hamilton and Remigo to push the lead back to nine, 65-56 with 6:45 left.
NEC chipped the lead back down to five with 2:28 to play, but Westfield got a pair of impressive dunks from Hamilton in traffic, then Timmy Jacobus on the fast break to hold the lead.
Westfield finished with a 50-36 margin in rebounds.
Westfield will be off over the Thanksgiving week, returning to action on Thursday, Dec. 1, hosting Clark University in a non-conference game at the Woodward Center at 7:00 p.m.