Worcester, MA --- Freshman Paul Brooks (Arlington, MA) tossed in a game-best 18 points to go with 10 rebounds and four blocks to help propel Worcester State to a 53-50 triumph over Salem State in MASCAC men's basketball action this evening.
With the triumph, the Lancers have won their fifth straight contest to improve to 8-12 overall and 5-3 in conference action and force a two-way tie for third place with Westfield State. The Vikings fall to 13-7 and 6-2 in the league circuit and remain one game ahead of the rest of the pack.
WSU senior Dane Jobst (Athol, MA) added 10 points and a career-best 25 boards – which is just eight away from the school record. The total number of caroms is also the second-highest sum in Division III thus far tying a mark that senior Dominic Morro (Taylor, MI) of Finlandia made on January 31 against Division II opponent Northland International.
Brooks finished 8-for-12 from the field for his fourth collegiate double-double and junior Brendan Rios (Easthampton, MA) chipped in with 10 points and five boards.
Junior Bryan Ortiz (Salem, MA) tallied 16 points and a contest-best four steals while sophomore Anthony Hodges (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) and senior Andrew White (Medford, MA) combined for 15 points in the setback for Salem State.
Senior Robert Morin (Lee, MA) produced a game-high five blocks and four boards for the Vikings off the bench.
Down by three at the 5:14 mark, SSU junior Nicholas Grassa (Lynn, MA) connected for a trifecta and Ortiz added two at the line for the 45-43 advantage with 3:42 remaining in regulation.
Freshman Noris Cuevas-Nova (Amherst, MA) helped the hosts respond with a field goal and sophomore Manny Cabral (Roslindale, MA) followed with a triple for the three-point game just 1½ minutes later.
Ortiz buried an NBA range trey to tie the score, but Rios put the Lancers on top for good with a three-pointer of his own for the 51-48 advantage with 1:50 remaining.
On Salem State's very next possession, Morin was blocked by Brooks and Worcester State had a chance to extend the lead. WSU, however, failed to do after three straight offensive boards and a one-and-one try at the line by Cuevas-Nova with 23 ticks left.
Ortiz was promptly fouled and he sank both of his opportunities at the stripe to put the Lancers at the baseline with 18 ticks remaining and the one-point contest (51-50).
The Blue and Gold were caught in a pickle and turned the ball over to give the visitors a chance at the end. Ortiz then tried to drain his fourth trifecta of the contest at the top of the arc, but failed to do so as Rios came up with the key defensive rebound.
After Rios knocked back both of his bids at the charity stripe to make it a three-point game with five seconds remaining, freshman Marquez McKreith-Collins (Springfield, MA/Cathedral) stripped the ball from Grassa at half court to preserve the final score.
It was a close game midway through the contest before Salem State utilized a 6-0 run to take over a 17-11 edge with 7:59 remaining. The visitors were ignited with a three-pointer by junior Jon Perez (Weymouth, MA) and an old fashioned three-point play by Hodges in the surge.
SSU continued to hold the late 25-20 margin with just over two minutes remaining in the period, but Brooks helped lead the charge with a pair of buckets in a 5-0 skein to equalize the score 25-25 at the intermission.
WSU built off the same momentum and built up a six-point score with 14:50 on the clock (33-27). Ortiz though had other plans for the Vikings as he helped equalize the score 33-33 with consecutive trifectas over a 90 second span.
The Lancers came right back and used buckets by Brooks and McKreith-Collins for the 37-33 contest at the 12 minute mark.
Salem State then reeled off a 7-1 spurt to take over a 39-31 edge around the midway point of the second period. The Lancers answered with a 5-0 mini run of their own to tie up the score 43-43 with 5:14 left in the contest.
The Worcester State defense did an outstanding job of limiting the offensive opportunities their opponents had to score as the Vikings shot just 29 percent from the floor (16-for-56) – 24 percent alone in the second period (7-for-29). SSU, however, canned 12 of their 16 bids from the charity stripe (75 percent).
The Lancers shot a modest 34 percent for the game (22-for-65), but only rang in three of their 15 attempts from downtown.
WSU doubled up Salem State on the backboards (60-31), dominated the offensive glass (22-4), points in the paint (34-12) and second chance baskets (16-3). The visitors used 14 steals to parlay 20 host miscues into a 12-6 margin in points off turnovers. SSU also held the 17-8 margin in bench scoring and missed 11 free throws (6-for-11 - 35 percent).
Jobst converted his 14th double-double in his 20th contest as he is among the NCAA Division III leaders in the category. He also started off the weekend averaging 12.9 boards per contest which was third in the nation. His eye-popping 13 rebounds jumped off the first-half box score with a tied game at the intermission.
Both squads will play again on the road next Tuesday at 7:30. Worcester State heads to Bridgewater State while the Vikings will travel to Westfield State.
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