Owls Spoil Vikings' Senior Day in Final Seconds

SALEM, Mass-    JuJu Omot's (Springfield, Mass.) three-point play in the final five seconds of the game sealed Westfield State University's 86-85 victory over the Vikings of Salem State this afternoon. The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory for the Owls bumped them to 18-7 overall and 9-3 in conference play while it dropped the Vikings to 12-12 on the season and 5-7 in MASCAC action. Before this afternoon's regular season finale, the Vikings honored lone senior Jaden Castillo (Lawrence, Mass.)

Michael Makiej (Andover, Mass.) and Castillo led the Vikings with 31 points and 27 points, respectively, while Castillo dished out six assists in the effort.

For the Owls, Omot had a game-high 33 points, including the game- winning free throw, while Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass.) had a 15-point, 15-rebound performance in the victory.

The Owls jumped out to the 12-4 lead before a Makiej layup and Castillo triple brought the Vikings within five (14-9) with 14:21 to play in the half. The Owls would hold the slight edge before seven unanswered points from the Vikings gave them their first lead of the game, 30-29, with 5:35 remaining in the opening stanza. Westfield would steal the lead briefly before the Vikings regained control to lead by as many as nine before taking the 48-41 advantage into the break.  

A Makiej three-pointer in the opening seconds would give the Vikings their first double-digit lead of the game at 51-41. Shortly after and over a span of thirty seconds, Castillo would go 5-5 from the charity stripe to extend the Vikings lead, 58-44. Salem would hold onto the double-digit edge until the halfway point of the second when the tail end of an 8-0 Westfield run made it a 68-59 game with 10:15 to play. With three minutes to play Liam Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) gave the Vikings some life after a two-handed dunk got the crowd on their feet and reclaimed his team's ten-point edge (81-71). The Vikings would hold onto the slight lead and find themselves ahead 83-77 with 1:16 remaining before Omot took over the game, scoring six straight points to bring the Owls within two points (85-83) with nine seconds on the clock. The Owls would then be able to force a Viking turnover and Omot pulled out the heroics, completing a three-point play with five seconds on the clock, which would mark the Owls first lead since the 5:19 mark of the first half and eventually mark the 86-85 victory for the Owls.

The Vikings will hit the road this Tuesday, February 20 for the first round of the MASCAC post-season tournament.