Salem State 87, Worcester State 69
Worcester, MA --- Senior center Dylan Holmes (Groton, MA) tallied a game-high 27 points as he shot 12-for-20 from the floor to help propel Salem State to a 87-69 win over Worcester State this evening at Lancer Gymnasium in MASCAC men's basketball action.
The Vikings (15-3, 5-1 MASCAC) were also led by sophomore Nick Linear (Salem, MA) who notched 17 points as he went 8-for-11 from the field with a game-high five steals. Freshman Brian Clark (Deerfield, MA) registered 11 points while senior Stevie Celestin (Somerville, MA) had a balanced game with eight points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Junior Maurice Horton (Detroit, MI) led the Lancers (9-9, 3-3 MASCAC) with his 13th double-double in 18 games with 22 points and 11 rebounds while junior classmates Patrick Hamilton (Templeton, MA) and Darren Schmidt (Shelburne Falls, MA) recorded eight points apiece. Junior Kevin Gena (Lynn, MA) also pulled down nine rebounds off the bench for WSC.
With Worcester State leading 21-12 with 10:53 left in the first half, Salem State used a 25-6 spurt to take a commanding 37-27 lead into the locker room. The visitors went ahead 26-25 on a jumper by Holmes with 5:25 left to play in the stanza and extended the lead on five straight points by Holmes with 1:37 left in the period (31-25).
During the run, SSC was aided by poor shooting by the Lancers as they missed four of five from the field and six of seven from three point land. Salem State also forced 15 turnovers with 11 steals and parlayed the miscues into 15 points.
The Vikings extended the lead up to 46-35 with 17:52 remaining and used a 23-11 push to extend the lead up to 46-69 just after the nine minute mark. Worcester State trimmed the lead to get as far as 12 points with 4½ minutes remaining, but that was as far as they would get as the visitors cruised ahead for the victory.
Both teams shot well from the floor for the game as the Lancers connected for 42 percent and Salem State hit a remarkable 53 percent. While the rebounds were even (38-38), SSC dominated the game in the paint (36-14).
Worcester State will travel to MCLA on Saturday at 7:30 while the Vikings will head to nationally ranked UMass-Dartmouth for a 7 PM matchup on Thursday.