Men's Basketball Drops 99-86 MASCAC Decision to Worcester State

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Worcester State University men's basketball team overcame a 13-point second half deficit as the Lancers rallied for a 99-86 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over visiting Bridgewater State University on Wednesday evening at Brissette Court.

The Lancers improve to 10-12 on the season and 7-2 in the MASCAC while the Bears fall to 9-14 overall and 4-6 in conference play. Worcester, which swept the season series, has won 11 of the last 14 meetings of the two teams. Bridgewater holds a 72-48 advantage in the all-time series which dates back to 1954.

The Lancers' five starters accounted for 96 of their 99 points with junior Ayme Daguilh (West Boylston, Mass.) leading the way with a game-high 26 points. Daguilh knocked down six three-pointers and added four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Senior Brandon Goris (Bronx, N.Y.) checked in with 23 points, four rebounds, three assists and seven steals for the hosts while junior Jaylen Kirkland (Gardner, Mass.) scored 20 points to go along with nine rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.

The Lancers also received 17 points from graduate student Sam Davies (Worcester, Mass.) as well as ten points from junior Shawn Hebert (Ayer, Mass.).

Bridgewater had six players finish in double-figure scoring led by junior Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) with 19 points. Kikuba also added five rebounds and four assists. He now has 415 assists in his career, just three shy of Mark Dias' (1982-86) all-time program mark of 418.

Junior Samuel Omisore (Boston, Mass.) notched his second double-double of the season as he recorded a season-high 18 points and 14 rebounds including seven offensive boards.

Sophomore Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.) contributed 18 points, five rebounds and four assists for the hosts.

Sophomore Sam Sweeney (Burlington, Vt.), graduate student Noah Downing (Brockton, Mass.) and senior TJ Williams (Jupiter, Fla.) all scored in double figures for the Bears off the bench. Sweeney finished with 11 points (all in the first half) and a career-high eight rebounds, while Downing tallied ten points, four rebounds and three assists, and Williams registered ten points and six boards.

Bridgewater led 53-43 at the break. Clinging to a four-point advantage in the latter stages of the first half, the Bears outscored the Lancers 13-7 over the final three minutes of the stanza to take the double-digit lead.

Campbell paced the Bears with 15 points over the first 20 minutes while Sweeney tallied 11 points on 3 of 4 shooting from behind the arc. Downing added ten first-half points.

Bridgewater shot 56% (18-37) in the first half including an impressive 9-for-17 (53%) clip from three-point range. The Bears also went 8-for-9 at the free throw line in the opening stanza.

Goris notched 15 points in the first half for the Lancers while Daguilh added 11.

The Bears got up by as many as 13 points on two occasions over the first four minutes of the second half. An Omisore layup with 16 minutes left to play gave the hosts a 65-52 lead.

The Lancers, however, dominated play over the next seven minutes outscoring the Bears 21-7 during the stretch. Daguilh started the run with a three-pointer and capped it off with another trifecta which gave the hosts their first lead (73-72) of the game.

With seven minutes showing on the scoreboard, Omisore knocked down a free throw to knot the score at 75-75. The Lancers then drained a trio of three-pointers in a span of 71 seconds to quickly open up a nine-point lead (84-75). Kirkland, Nkugwa and Daguilh each connected from behind the arc during the decisive spurt.

The Bears would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way as Worcester pulled away for the 99-86 victory.

The Lancers scored 56 points in the second half and shot 59% (20-34) from the floor while also recording nine steals.

Bridgewater went 0-for-10 from behind the arc in the second half and just 7-for-12 (58%) at the free throw line. The Bears also committed 11 turnovers over the final 20 minutes.

Worcester committed just four turnovers throughout the entire game and finished with a 25-6 edge in points off turnovers.

The MASCAC schedule continues to for both teams on Saturday at noon. The Bears travel to Fitchburg State University to take on the Falcons while the Lancers head to Framingham State University to face the Rams.