NORTHFIELD, Vt. – After leading by seven at the half, Worcester State allotted Wheaton 50 second half points to give them an 81-69 win in the opening round of the Ed Hockenbury Classic, hosted by Norwich University, Saturday (Dec. 2) evening.
THE BASICS
December 2, 2017
Andrews Hall
Score: Wheaton 81, Worcester State 69
Records: Wheaton (5-2) | Worcester State (0-7)
1ST HALF
After back-and-forth play in the first five minutes of play, Wheaton attained a 4-point lead with 15 minutes remaining succeeding a Ryan Fogarty (Walpole, Mass.) layup. After Worcester State's Manny Green (Boston, Mass.) made a triple with 14:43 on the clock, Fogarty responded with a long ball and Alex Dubrow (Foxboro, Mass.) made a layup on the next possession to take a 6-point advantage. The Lyons saw as big as an 8-point lead minutes later, until the Lancers went on a 7-point run on consecutive buckets from Chris Cardoso (Jamaica Plains, Mass.) to get within one. Worcester State took the lead with 5:41 on the clock with a Shaun McCarthy (Oxford, Mass.) layup, and then Cardoso put up five more points to give the Blue and Gold a 6-point lead. The Lancers maintained the lead and ended the half ahead 38-29.
2ND HALF
The Lancers saw their largest lead of the game with 17:39 to go on the clock in the second frame as Will Watkins Jr. (Southbridge, Mass.) and Cal Howes (Maynard, Mass.) drained triples. Though, Wheaton fought back with 20 consecutive points on buckets from Riley Tetreault (Walpole, Mass.), Liam Bruno (Newton, Mass.), Dubrow, Duaka Ekwensi (Morris Plains, N.J.) and Fogarty to give the Lyons the lead. Worcester State broke the Lyons' scoring binge with 11:21 on the clock when Cardoso found McCarthy in the post for a layup. Worcester State got within three four minutes later when the Lancers saw back-to-back three's from Watkins Jr. and then tied the score at 57-57 with an and-one from McCarthy. Worcester State took the lead on a pair of free throws from Green, though, Wheaton ended the game with an 11-0 run and good free throw shooting in the last minute to seal the 81-69 win.
DOWN FOR A COUNT
- Wheaton's Fogarty led all scoring with 29 points, including four three's and going 9-for-11 from the charity stripe.
- DuBrow, Bruno, and Tetreault scored 13-11-11 points, respectively for the Lyons.
- DuBrow logged a six assist and three steals for Wheaton.
- Ekwensi posted nine points and a team-high six boards in the win.
- Worcester State's offense was paced by Watkins Jr. who totaled 23 points and marked a game-high seven rebounds. 10-of-19 points were made beyond the arc.
- Cardoso collected 14 points and a game-high seven assists in the setback.
- Wheaton outrebounded Worcester State 37-24.
- 46-of-81 Lyons points were scored in the paint.
- Worcester State shot 41.9% from the field, while Wheaton established a 48.3 field goal percentage.
- The Lancers shot a season-best 41.7% from 3-point range and also made 7-of-8 free throws.
UP NEXT
Worcester State will face Norwich in a 1 p.m. Ed Hockenbury Classic consolation game tomorrow (Dec. 3).
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