WPI 78, Worcester State 57
Worcester, MA --- Jerome Kirkland (Boston, MA)
equaled his career-high with 25 points and fellow guard
Adam Lirette (Dover, NH) notched his first career
double-double to help propel visiting WPI to a 78-57 victory over
Worcester State in the opening game of the sixth annual Worcester
County Classic.
The Engineers will face the winner of Saturday’s second
contest between Becker and Nichols in the championship game on
Sunday at 4pm. Worcester State will take on the loser in the
consolation game at 2pm.
WPI jumped out of the gates quickly, scoring the first 10 points of
the contest. Worcester State battled back and got within one point
on three different occasions but were able to tie or take the lead,
as the Engineers took a 39-37 advantage into the locker room at the
break. The Crimson and Gray turned on the defense in the second
half, limiting the Lancers to 6-for-31 (19.4%) shooting from the
floor and 0-8 from three-point land.
Kirkland connected on 10-of-17 shots en route to equaling a
career-best set last February in a win at Clark. Lirette added 15
points, to go along with a career-high 10 rebounds, five assists
and four steals. Ben Etten (Hollis, NH) and
Fernando Perez (Lowell, MA) each chipped in with eight points,
while Will Lyons (Wilbraham, MA) and
Jeffery Robinson (Granby, CT) both tossed in
seven.
Junior Maurice Horton (Detroit, MI) led the
Lancers with 19 points and nine rebounds. Patrick
Hamilton (Templeton, MA) registered 12 points despite
being saddled with foul trouble throughout the contest.
Kevin Gena (Lynn, MA) and Raheem
Lewis (Whitinsville, MA) both tallied eight points off the
bench for Worcester State, who out rebounded the Engineers
47-44.
The game was hard-played throughout in front of a capacity crowd at
Lancer Gymnasium, and featured a combined 48 fouls and 48
free-throw attempts.