Newport News, VA --- Senior Frank Stephenson (Fall River, MA) poured in a career-best 34 points with a 17-for-22 line from the charity stripe to help lead Worcester State to a thrilling 84-77 victory over Piedmont (GA) this evening in the consolation game of the Christopher Newport Captains Shootout.
The Lancers (3-7) were also led by junior Monte Goodwin's (Boston, MA/Belmont) second double-double of the season as he finished with 15 points and 19 rebounds. Sophomore Mike Gittens (Uncasville, CT) chipped in with 13 points and third-year Kyle Ferreira (Westport, MA/Diman Vocational) added 11.
Stephenson would reset the tournament records for points scored and free throws made in one game while Goodwin eclipsed the single-contest mark for total caroms. Stephenson and Ferreira both combined to hand out seven assists for WSU.
For his efforts this evening Stephenson was named to the All-Tournament team.
Sophomore Tyler Arnold (Calhoun, GA) paced the Lions with 14 points and seven boards as freshman Jessie Jenkins (McDonough, GA) tallied 12 points and a team-high 14 rebounds.
Junior Michael Ross (Blairsville, GA) and first-year Dylan Delaney (Ashland, KY) both netted 12 and 11 points, respectively, off the bench as sophomore Kyle Lundberg (Delray Beach, FL) dished out five helpers for Piedmont.
Trailing by 13 at the 11:15 mark in the second half, the Lions used an impressive 18-5 run – with treys by second-year Kevin Kudbandi (Atlanta, GA), Delaney and Arnold – to erase the deficit as they knotted the score at 68-68 with just under five minutes left to play.
Following a missed three-point bid by Piedmont, the Lancers seized the opportunity and scored four consecutive points on a lay-up by Goodwin and a pair of free throws by Stephenson to lead 72-68 with 3:42 left.
The Lions (2-8) would hit the back-end of a bonus opportunity from the charity stripe from Delaney and convert an Arnold jumper to get within one basket with 2:24 remaining (72-71), but the Blue and Gold went back up by four on a traditional three-point play by Ferreira.
The Lancers would also convert seven of their last eight attempts from the line to ice the contest.
Midway through the opening frame, Worcester State clung to a 21-17 advantage before going on an 11-2 scoring rally for the 32-19 advantage with 5:20 left in the period. The Lancers would settle for the 48-38 edge at the intermission as Ross scored the final five of the stanza for Piedmont.
WSU would maintain their double-digit margin into the second period until the Lions made their comeback.
Piedmont finished with slim leads in total rebounds (41-40), offensive caroms (17-13), points in the paint (38-34) and points off turnovers (17-15). The Lancers led in second-chance points (13-12) and points in transition (10-0).
For the contest, Worcester State made exactly 50 percent of their shots from the floor (28-for-56). After going 1-for-7 from the charity stripe in the first half, the Blue and Gold would finish the second making 21 of 28 (75 percent).
Piedmont shot 41 percent for the game (28-for-69) and only made three of their 15 attempts in the second stanza from beyond the arc. They would also outscore WSU 39-36 in the final frame.
The Lancers will take a week off before starting off their MASCAC slate with a road game against Framingham State next Saturday at 5 PM.
The Lions entertain unbeaten Emory on Tuesday at 7 o'clock who is ranked #5 in the latest D3hoops.com poll.