Men's Basketball Drops Framingham, 78-71

WESTFIELD, Mass. –   Westfield State got 30 points from senior swingman Justin Thompson (Columbia, S.C./Dutch Fork)  as the Owls held on for a 78-71 win over Framingham State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game at the Woodward Center on Saturday afternoon.

Westfield (2-11, 1-1 MASCAC) snapped a six-game skid after a rugged early season schedule that included three games against opponents in the NCAA D3 Top 10.

Framingham dips to 4-11, 1-1 in conference play.

Thompson shot 8-18 from the floor and was 10-12 at the foul line, including 4-4 from the line in the final 2:25 to help the Owls put the game away.   Westfield got 11 points in a spot start from senior forward Brendan Keaveny (Quincy, Mass.), who finished with 11 points on 3-3 shooting behind the arc, including a pair of clutch three pointers late. Keaveny had four rebounds and a pair of steals as well.  DaeJohn Pendleton (Haverhill, Mass.) handed out eight assists for the Owls.

Westfield led by as many as 15 points midway through the second half, using a half court trap to help build the big lead.

Framingham slowlyground their way back into the game with some key three-point shooting, before Juran Ligonde (Dedham, Mass.) gave the rams a 66-65 lead with a layup with 4:45 left to play.

Keaveny responded for the Owls with three-pointers on back-to-back possessions that restored Westfield's lead to 71-68 with 3:21 left to play.

Framingham was led by 25 points and a game high 12 rebounds from Ligonde.  Jahden Ehrold (Boston, Mass./Natick) added 13 points, and Marshall Martin (Dorchester, Mass.) finished with 10 points and six rebounds before fouling out.

Westfield led 40-34  at the half behind 15 points from J.T. Thompson. The Owls jumped out to an early 14-5 lead on a jumpshot by Brown with 14:03 left.  Framingham tied the game on three occasions, the last at 30-all with 5:31 left in the half, but Westfield closed the half with a 10-4 spurt which included a two handed tomahawk dunk from Eric Johnson (Houston, Tex./Travis) and was capped by a pair of free throws from Thompson to close the scoring .

Westfield will next host Salem State in a conference game on Wednesday with a 5:30 p.m. tip off at the Woodward Center.

Framingham will next host Fitchburg State on Wednesday in another conference matchup.