WORCESTER, Mass. – Westfield State's Jesus Sanchez (Springfield, Mass.) led the #5 Owls to a 91-90 overtime victory with a game-high 32 points against the #4 Worcester State University Lancers Tuesday evening in the MASCAC men's basketball quarterfinal game.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle between the two. Worcester State took the largest lead of the half with 7:22 remaining, on a layup from Marquez McKreith-Collins (Springfield, Mass.). Though, Westfield State's Sanchez and Peter Mafo (Lynn, Mass.) went on a 7-0 run to close the gap to one with at 6:13. Worcester held the advantage until the last three seconds of the half when Westfield's Shane Pasquantonio (Ashland, Mass.) went 2-for-2 at the free throw line to put the Owls ahead 44-43 at the intermission.
Worcester State once again fought back to get ahead, as they ended up leading by six with 10:52 remaining in the second. However, Westfield State followed with a 14-2 run through the second half to position them ahead of the Lancers 69-64 with 7:39 remaining. Worcester State responded with a 9-0 run, stealing the lead once again with 4:26 to go.
The game was knotted up five times in the last four minutes of regulation. With 23 seconds remaining, Sanchez sailed two free throws to tie the Owls and Lancers up at 81. Worcester State had one more scoring opportunity to take the win, but Westfield's defense did not allot Worcester to get a good look, resulting in an overtime period.
Worcester State took the first points in the overtime period, as Paul Brooks (Arlington, Mass.) powered through with a dunk to put the Lancers up by two. Westfield State then went on a 7-0 run with 3:16 left on buckets from Pasquantonio, Jose Allen (Amherst, Mass.), and Sanchez. The Lancers came back with two unanswered layups to tighten the Owls' lead to just one with 27 seconds remaining.
With the clock winding down, Worcester had no other option than to foul. Clutch free-throws from Pasquantonio gave the Owls a 91-87 advantage with 13 seconds remaining. Though Worcester State's junior guard, Ryan DiBernardo (Springfield, Mass.) had a surprise awaiting the crowd, as he made a stunning three pointer with nine seconds left to put the Blue and Gold within one. Worcester was handed one more opportunity to take the lead with five seconds remaining after Westfield missed two consecutive free-throws. Nevertheless, the Lancers were not able to connect offensively, resulting in the 91-90 victory for Westfield State.
Sanchez went 11-for-21 from the field and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line to assist the Owls n the victory. Pasquantonio led the Owls on the boards with 15 rebounds (five offensive) and netted 15 points. Mafo and Allen added in 13 and 12 points, respectively.
For the Lancers, freshman Alex Santos (Lawrence, Mass.) led the charge with 23 points, six assists and seven rebounds. Junior guard, Bilal Shakir (Worcester, Mass.) scored 17, while DiBernarndo gave the Lancers 14. McKreith-Collins led the Lancers in rebounds with nine (six offensive). He and Jamal Mustapha (Worcester, Mass.) chipped in 12 points apiece on the night.
Overall, Westfield State the shooting advantage, going 46.6% from the floor, while Worcester State shot 44.0%. Westfield also connected on 18-of-23 free-throws for a 78.3 team percentage, while the Lancers shot 66.7% from the stripe.
With the win, the Owls advance to the semifinals on Thursday (Feb. 25) where they will face the #1 seed, Fitchburg State. With the loss, the Lancers' season comes to an end, registering a 16-10 winning record for the 2015-16 campaign.