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Courtesy Westfield State Sports Information

Westfield, Mass. – Senior Matt Devine scored a game-high 19 points and 14 rebounds to pace five Westfield State starters in double figures as the Owls posted an 88-72 win over Castleton State in the ECAC New England Division III men's basketball semifinals at the Woodward Center on Saturday afternoon.

The win was Westfield's 23rd of the year, setting a school record for wins, breaking the mark set in 1992-93.

Westfield used its patented trapping defense to force 24 Castleton turnovers, and the Owls used their height advantage, as the 6-7 Devine, 6-6 Ryan White (17 points, 6 rebounds) and Grant Cooper (14 points, 5 rebounds) consistently scored points in the paint for the Owls.

Westfield led 37-34 at the intermission, fueled by the strong inside play of Cooper, who had 12 first-half points, and eight each from White and Devine.

Westfield used a 12-5 spurt out of the intermission to grab a double-figure lead, 49-39, on a steal and layup by Jordan Santiago with 16:17 left.

Westfield built its lead as big as 14 points on a Devine dunk with 11:42 left in regulation. Castleton hung tough for the next five minutes, whittling the lead back down to nine on several occasions before Westfield was able to open up the final margin of victory.

Santiago finished with 12, and senior guard Lee Vazquez added 18 for the Owls. Vazquez moves into fourth place on the Owls all-time scoring list with 1560 points, passing Owls' hall of famer Don Farr '57. Vazquez is just 15 points shy of tying Jim Bruno '91 for third on the career list.

Castleton jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the first 2:59 of the game on a three-pointer by Logan White.

With the Spartans holding a 26-16 lead with 7:12 left in the game, Westfield went on a 15-4 run of its own spurred by a Dan Tessier three-pointer to start, grabbing The Owls first lead of the game, 31-30 on a pair of free throws by Santiago with 1:53 left in the first half.

Castleton ends its season at 17-13. The Spartans were paced by 19 from Logan White, and got 14 from senior forward Mark Comstock, who was limited after picking up three first-half fouls and eventually fouled out with five minutes left in the game.

Westfield advances to tomorrow's ECAC title game to face the winner of second-seed Anna Maria and third-seeded Eastern Connecticut State.