WORCESTER, Mass - Graduate student Chris Cardoso (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) came off the bench to score 18 points and lead the Worcester State men's basketball team to an 85-64 win over Eastern Connecticut State on Saturday afternoon at John P. Brissette '88 Court.
Cardoso was 3-6 from three-point land as Worcester State shot 50% from the floor and made 11 of 19 triples (57.9%).
Ryan Rubenskas (Bridgewater, Mass.) had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Sam Dion (Barre, Mass.) was 2-4 from three and 5-8 from the floor, on his way to a 12-point performance.
Near the midway point of the first-half, Dion and the graduate student Erik Bjorn (Holden, Mass.) started to heat up offensively to give Worcester State a 19-12 lead with 10:56 left on the clock.
Cardoso and Tyler Spencer (Pembroke, Mass.) connected on three-pointers in back-to-back possessions, giving the Lancers a 33-25 lead with 5:52 left in the first half.
Eastern Connecticut senior guard Cory Muckle (Westbrook, Conn.) hit a three to keep the visitors in shouting distance, but Worcester took a ten-point lead, 47-37, to the break.
Muckle had ten points in the first half, but was held scoreless in the second as the Lancers pulled away. Cardoso had ten points in the first half as well.
Worcester State (3-3) started the second half with nine straight points with a jumper by Zion Hendrix (Charlotte, N.C.), a triple by Dion and two layups from Rubenskas. With 17:30 left to play, they had increased their lead to 19, at 56-37, and were off and running towards a 20-point victory.
Cade Ensinger (Deep River, Conn.) kept the Warrior's hopes alive when he hit a three-pointer and then converted a layup to cut the deficit to 12, 60-48. But Cardoso and Dion answered with back to back three-pointers to spark an 18-2 run, pushing the Worcester State advantage to 28.
Suubi Nkugwa (Chelmsford, Mass.) scored six points on 2-2 from downtown and had four rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block in just 16 minutes of action. He was part of a Lancer bench that outscored the Eastern Connecticut reserves 44-31.
Worcester had a 48-34 edge in rebounds, led by 10 from Rubenskas and 12 from Bjorn, along with six from Cardoso, who also had two assists and two steals. Hendrix dished out four assists and scored 7 points.
Ensinger finished the night with seven points, while Max Lee (Norwich, Conn.) had six points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals for the Warriors. Quinton Lott (Bridgeport, Conn.) scored seven points and had two blocks, two assists and four rebounds.
Worcester State travels to Dean College next Tuesday for a 4:00 PM game before the Thanksgiving break.
Eastern Connecticut (2-3) hosts Johnson & Wales on the same day at 5:00 PM.