LEICESTER, Mass. – The Worcester State University men's basketball team edged Becker College 74-71 in a Tuesday evening non-conference matchup inside the Leicester Gymnasium.
With the win, the Lancers improve to 5-6 overall on the season. Becker falls to 2-7 with the defeat.
Worcester State came out strong with the first five points on buckets from Erik Bjorn (Holden, Mass.) and Shaun McCarthy (Oxford, Mass.). Becker got within two five minutes into the game on a Kareem Davis (Lowell, Mass.) triple, but Worcester State pushed away and saw as big as an 11-point lead with 12:41 remaining on a McCarthy layup. Becker kept fighting back, and eventually ended the half with a 7-0 run to set the score at 31-30, in favor of the Lancers.
The Hawks took their first lead of the game 40 seconds into the second half on a Dewayne Thomas (Lowell, Mass.) layup. Becker saw its largest lead of the game (5) with 14:43 on the clock succeeding an and-one from Davis. Worcester State and Becker traded points throughout the remainder of the second half, as there were five ties and eight lead changes. It came down to the last seconds to decide who was going to come out on top.
The last tie of the game was with 2:18 remaining on the clock after Becker's Davis made a free throw. On the next possession, Worcester State's McCarthy made a move in the paint and put the Lancers up 70-67 on an and-one opportunity. Davis responded with a layup on Becker's next possession, but Eddie Hassell (Milton, Mass.) answered with one shortly after to keep Worcester State ahead by three.
With just over a second on the clock, Becker got within one on a Jordan Rose-Wheatley (New Bedford, Mass.) layup on a put-back from a missed three-point shot. Becker had no other option but to foul, and Worcester State's Tyler Dion (Barre, Mass.) sunk the pair of free throws which led to a 74-71 final in Leicester.
Worcester State's offense was led by McCarthy who had 32 points, going 13-for-20 (65%) from the field and 6-for-9 (66.7%) from the free throw line.
Dion and Hassell had 12 and 11 points, respectively. Bjorn and Will Watkins Jr. (Southbridge, Mass.) each put up eight points. McCarthy and Bjorn led the team with eight rebounds apiece.
As a team, Worcester State shot 46.7% from the field. The Lancers held a 39-37 edge in rebounds throughout the game.
Worcester State's next game is on Saturday, Dec. 29 against Wentworth at the Clark Holiday Tournament. The Hawks will break for the holidays and return to competition on Thursday, Jan. 3 at UMass Dartmouth.
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Release courtesy of Becker College Sports Information.