Owls Clip Vikings, 99-67

Jose Rodriguez '24, Staff Writer | Media & Communications 

WESTFIELD, Mass.-   Juju Omot (Springfield, Mass.)  and Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass.) combined for 55 points to give Westfield State the 99-67 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic  Conference (MASCAC)  victory over Salem State on Wednesday night at the Woodward Center. The Owls improved to 13-6, 4-2, while the Vikings dropped to 9-8, 3-3.

Jaden Castillo (Lawrence, Mass.) spearheaded the Vikings with 27 points and six assists while L.J. Hicks (Garder, Mass.) added 11 points and five helpers in the effort.

The Owls were led by Brendon Hamilton's (Worcester, Mass.) 24-point, 21-rebound double-double while teammate Juju Omot (Springfield, Mass.), netted a game-high 31 points in the victory.

Just two minutes into the action the Owls found themselves with the 9-2 edge before Liam Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) would cut their lead in half after a jumper made it an 11-6 game. Over the next four minutes, behind 10 points from Omot, the Owls would go on a 12-0 run to take the 21-6 advantage with 12:45 to play in the first half. Westfield would hold the comfortable lead for a majority of the first until a 6-0 run in the closing 90 seconds brought the Vikings back within single digits (45-36), but a last second shot from Hamilton would send the Owls into the half with the 48-36 edge.  

At the half, Omot led the Owls with 17 points, going 7-11 from the field.  Hamilton had eight rebounds and was 5-7 from the free-throw line. For the Vikings, Castillo had an impressive 16 points, going 5-8 from the field and 3-4 from three-point range and Michael Makiej (Andover, Mass.) had four rebounds.

The Vikings began to chip away coming out of the half and found themselves down by a tally of five after back-to-back Castillo baskets made it a 52-47 game with 15:53 to play. Salem would remain within striking distance until a trio of Owl three-pointers reclaimed their double-digit cushion (70-54). The Owls kept pushing, and shortly after the Vikings found themselves in a deep hole, trailing by 20 (74-54) with ten minutes to play in the game. A 5-0 run would cut into the Owls' 20-point cushion but a dunk by Omot on the other end would ignite his team to a 15-1 run to take the commanding 94-60 lead with 2:58 to play. From there  the Owls would go on to take the 99-67 victory over the Vikings.

The Vikings are back on the road this Saturday, January 27 when they travel to Bridgewater State University to take on the Bears for a MASCAC bout. Tipoff is at 3 p.m..