Men’s Basketball Suffers 76-54 Setback at Westfield State University

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Elms College senior guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) scored a tie for the game high in points (13), but Westfield State University had three players finish with double-digit point totals including Lee Vazquez (Attleboro, Mass.) who netted 13 points off the bench to help pace the Owls to a 76-54 victory over the Blazers in Saturday evening's Pioneer Valley Classic men's basketball game at the Woodward Center and hosted by Westfield State.

With the loss, Elms moves to 1-5 on the season, while Westfield State remains unbeaten and improves to 6-0 overall.

Westfield State shot 50-percent from the field and 63.6-percent from beyond the arc led by Vazquez's 3 of 5 effort from three-point range. Grant Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) added 12 points and Jordan Santiago (Westfield, Mass.) chipped in 10 to give the Owls three players in double figures, while Dan Johnson (Belchertown, Mass.) swished three treys off the bench to finish with nine points.

Westfield State also held a 47-33 advantage in rebounds as Matt Devine (Pembroke, Mass.) recorded a game-best 11 boards in addition to scoring eight points, swatting four shots and securing three steals. Ryan White (Philadelphia, Pa.) added a game-high four assists and eight rebounds.

French hit on 4 of 15 from the field including a trio of three-pointers en route to 13 points and senior forwards Jamal Hulum (Norfolk, Va.) and Darius Griffin (Winter Haven, Fla.) poured in seven and six points each in the losing effort.

French contributed three steals, while sophomore forward Kenneth Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) hauled in a team-high five rebounds.

Hulum was 5 of 6 from the free throw line and senior guard Charles Bason (Baltimore, Md.) hit 5 of 7 from the stripe for Elms which was 20 of 29 from the line (69-percent).

Westfield State opened up a 10-0 lead and never trailed in the contest holding a double-digit lead from the 8:47 mark of the first half forward, and notching a lead of as many as 25 (75-50) with 1:28 to play in the contest.

Elms returns to action on Tuesday, December 4 when it travels to Bennington, Vt. to take on Southern Vermont College in its New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) opener. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m.