Murray, Healey Fuel Salem Men’s Basketball Win over Westfield
SALEM, Mass. Feb. 11, 2017 — Behind 19 points from standout junior guard Shaquan Murray, the Salem State Vikings men’s basketball team took down the Westfield State Owls, 82–74, in a conference matchup at Twohig Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The win puts the Vikings at 15–9 on the season with a 9–2 record in Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play, good enough for first place.
Salem State sophomore guard Alex Santos had 15 points, junior forward Drew Healey added a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds and senior Captain Marcus Faison had 13 points and eight rebounds to pace the offense for the Vikings.
For the Owls, sophomore guard Peter Mafo led the way with 18 points and senior guard Jesus Sanchez and senior center Shane Pasquantonio both added 13 points.
The two teams battled back and forth early in the game, with seven lead changes in the first half. Murray was nearly unstoppable for Salem State with 14 points and freshman guard Sean Bryan (10 points) provided a spark off the bench to get the Vikings out to a small lead. They were able to extend the lead to as many as 11 points, but a small run by the Owls late in the half put the score at 41–35 in favor of the Vikings at halftime.
“We changed our lineup a bit today to give us what we thought would be a quicker lineup,” Salem State head coach Chris Harvey said. “We’ve had some issues getting off to slow starts lately, and I think the new look for us gave us a much-needed spark.”
Salem State gained a foothold in the second half and never looked back.
While Murray was on fire in the first half, the Vikings focused more on offense from their two forwards in the second half. Healey had 10 points and nine rebounds in the half, while Faison contributed eight points. But it wasn’t just offense that put the Vikings ahead for good, as the Salem State defense locked down behind five blocks from Healey.
“I think in the second half we did a better job of keeping the guards in front of us,” said Harvey. “We forced them to take jump shots and then we were able to rebound the ball and score on the other end. It was a true all-around effort today.”
Now at 9–2 in the MASCAC, Salem State has a chance to secure a № 1 seed in the upcoming MASCAC tournament, which is an exciting feat not only for the players and coaches, but for the fans as well.
“It’s great that the team is doing so well and has a chance to go far in the tournament,” said Chienell Coleman, a senior biology major at Salem State. “The higher seed they get, the better chance there is that they advance further and keep playing and I can’t wait to watch them hopefully win it all.”
All the Vikings need to do to secure that top seed is notch one more win in the season finale against Fitchburg State (13–10, 8–3 MASCAC) on Feb. 15 at Twohig Gymnasium.
“If we win [on Wednesday], we’ll definitely be the № 1 seed, but if we lost we could drop as low as № 3,” said Harvey. “So we’re putting a lot of focus on this last game and trying to end the regular season with some good momentum going into the tournament.”
