WESTFIELD, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team lost 70-59 to Westfield State University in the championship game of the  Rick Martin - Hampton Inn Tournament.

Jayquan Kirkland (Stratford, Conn.) led all scorers with 20 points to go with seven rebounds. Isaiah Earl (Hamden, Conn.) scored 12 points with six rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Ray Ford, Jr. (Jersey City, N.J.) had nine points to go with nine rebounds.

THE BASICS

FINAL: Westfield State 70 | Albertus 59

RECORDS: Albertus (1-3) | Westfield State (2-0)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Kirkland got off to an electric start for the Falcons scoring the first ten points for the Falcons as they took a 10-9 lead at the 14:32 mark, which included two threes.
• The Owls scored the next eight points to take a 17-10 lead before a jumper from Ford, Jr. broke the run.
• Westfield State went on to lead by as much as 10 at 31-21 with 2:38 left in the first half, but baskets by Kirkland and Rodrick Pearson (Hartford, Conn.) helped trim the deficit to 33-27 going into halftime.
• Albertus went on a 9-2 run to start the second half, capped by a layup from Ford, Jr. to take a 36-35 lead. Earl had five points during the run.
• However, the Owls went on a 14-3 run, which included five points from Keith Mency and four points from Joe Thomson to take  49-39.
• After Westfield State took a 56-44 lead, a dunk from Earl followed by a three from DJ Hamilton (Bronx, N.Y.) cut the deficit to seven points. It was the closest the Falcons would get the rest of the way.

TEAM STATS

Albertus

33.3 FG% | 16.7 3PT% | 47.4 FT%

Westfield State

41.4 FG% | 35.7 3PT% | 54.8 FT%

TOP PERFORMERS

Albertus

Jayquan Kirkland 20 PTS | 7 REBS

Isaiah Earl 12 PTS | 6 REBS | 3 ASTS | 3 BLKS

Ray Ford, Jr. 9 PTS | 9 REBS | 2 STLS

Westfield State

Keith Mency 15 PTS | 5-8 FG | 3 REBS

A.Z. Allah 11 PTS | 4 REBS | 4 ASTS | 3 STLS

Xavier Lewis 11 PTS | 3 STLS

NOTEWORTHY

Kirkland has scored at least 20 points in two of his last three games.

UP NEXT

The Falcons stay on the road to take on Lehman on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 3 p.m.