Worcester, MA - The Worcester State Lancers (14-9, 8-2 MASCAC) tipped off against the Framingham State Rams (5-18, 0-10 MASCAC). This game marks Worcester State's senior night, celebrating our Lancer seniors and most importantly, the leaders of the men's basketball team. The senior members of the Lancers include Sam Dion (Barre, MA), Sam Davies (Worcester, MA), and Ryan Rubenskas (Bridgewater, MA).
FINAL: LANCERS 92 | 67 RAMS
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Facing a winless team in the MASCAS, the Lancers would hope to build an early lead against the Rams. After failing to win the opening faceoff, the Framingham State Rams would open the scoring with a three pointer from JD Okafor (Boston, MA) which would be followed by a series of three pointers. All of which would be scored by Worcester State Lancers, junior Aaron Nkrumah (Worcester, MA), Rubenskas, and Davies. Only five minutes into the game, most of Worcester State's points came from successful three point buckets as Dion continued to add to his career made three point total. Dion started today's game just 48 points shy of a career Worcester State 1,000 points. For the Lancers, success would continue to follow alongside their brilliant offensive play.
After an incredible pass that seamlessly flew through the Rams defense, the ball would fall into the hands of Rubenskas who laid it up for another easy two points. Moments later, Dion would shoot and score for his second three pointer of the game while junior Brandon Goris (Bronx, NY) provided the team with a spectacular lay up, further boosting the team's morale.
With two minutes left before halftime and five fouls committed by each team, the feeling in the gym and coming off the Lancer bench was that Framingham State held more desire for the win late in the opening half and the Lancers needed to refocus on their defense and rebounding to continue their early success. Worcester State would hold off the late surge from the Rams to carry a 39-33 lead into the halftime break as they looked to readjust their play for continued success.
Going into the half, the leading scorer for the Rams is Okafor with 12 points while Worcester State's Dion recorded a total of nine points.
Entering the second half of play, scoring would reopen with two successful free throws for Davies. While Worcester State would be their former selves when it came to hitting three pointers, Nkrumah would eventually end their drought by patiently sitting at the corner of the court and sinking a three that would start the scoring spurt of the second half for the Lancers.
Just five minutes into the second half, the Rams had already committed a total of six fouls which allowed the Lancers to consecutively score eleven points, leaving the Framingham State in shambles before they would finally score their first two pointer. Although Worcester State's streak was snapped, their momentum would become too much to handle for the Rams, who with the early double bonus recorded, were limited in their defensive actions.
In a half that was dominated by the Lancers, Davies, Nkrumah, junior Ajani Larry (Atlanta, GA) and first year Jaylen Kirkland (Gardner, MA) would all each sink three points while Dion would score two more threes in the half, adding to his impressive night and inching closer the accomplished 1,000 point mark.
By slicing the defense with clever passing, assertive offense, and the chemistry to showcase each teammates' elite skill, the Worcester State Lancers completely took control of the game, leading to their dominant victory over the Framingham State Rams with a score of 92 - 67.
At the final buzzer, Worcester State's highest scorer was shared between Dion and Nkrumah with a whopping 20 points each, while the Ram's leading scorer, Okafor recorded just 17 points for the night.
WHAT'S NEXT:
After securing the victory over the Framingham State Rams (5-19, 0-11), the Lancers (15-9, 9-2) will now look forward to facing the MCLA Trailblazers (7-4, 13-10) in a conference crucial re-match at 2:00 on February 17th as Worcester State looks to lock up the top speed in the conference tournament.