WORCESTER, Mass. – The Clark University Cougars and the Worcester State Lancers battled for their first win in a packed-house at the Kneller Athletic Center for the first NCAA Division III basketball contest of the season for Midnight Mayhem. Clark overcame a six point deficit in the first half, and beat the Lancers 83-78 for their first win of the 2-15-16 season.
Worcester State's freshman guard, Dante Neal (Lawrence, Mass.) scored the first point of the mayhem on a layup to give the Lancers the gain. The Cougars knotted the game on a layup moments later, before the Lancers went ahead and took the 8-2 lead on buckets from freshman guard, Alex Santos (Lawrence, Mass.)
The Cougars evened out the score at 13 with 15 minutes left on the clock off baskets from senior Tyler Huffman (W. Hartford, Conn.) and junior Joe Atkinson (Milford, Mass.). The score was tied up once again in the first half at 27 until the Cougars took the lead for their first time of the night on a three-pointer from junior Evan Lerner (Hopedale, Mass.).
33 personal fouls (Worcester State 19, Clark University 14) and one technical foul were given out in the first half, leading to numerous players on each side with three fouls going into the second.
In the second half, the Cougars upped their lead to 12, but the Lancers shaved the lead to only five with 8:15 remaining in the game. Clark went on a roll and received their largest lead of the game of 13 with 4:11 to go on a layup by David Mercier (Milford, Mass.).
Worcester State closed the gap once again under the two minute mark, resulting in a six point advantage for the Scarlett and White. Marquez McKreith-Collins (Springfield, Mass.) ended up at the free throw line just under one minute to lay in two points for the Blue and Gold to close the gap to three. Huffman came back with two good free throws to put the Cougars back up by five. Each team had a few more opportunities at the line, but neither team scored resulting in an 83-78 victory for the Cougars.
Clark's Huffman scored a game-high 29 points, going 7-11 from the field, registering five three-point shots, and going 10-12 at the free throw line. Atkinson was Clark's top rebounder with nine, while junior Lucas LaLima (Colts Neck, N.J.) had a team-high eight assists on the night.
For the Lancers, McKreith Collins recorded a double-double, scoring 22 points and 10 rebounds against the Scarlett and White. He added in two assists and one steal while shooting 63.6 percent from the field. Santos had 15 points for the Lancers at the half, and added in another four in the second to equal out at 19 points. Santos led the team in assists with four, and added in an assist on the evening. Neal scored 15 points and recorded two steals for the Blue and Gold.
Despite the loss, the Lancers out-rebounded the Cougars 58-47 on the night. Each team shot around 45 percent from the field, while Clark had the three-point and free throw percent advantage at 47.4 and 50.0 percent, respectively.
Worcester State will be back at Clark University for their first home game of the season on Tuesday (Nov. 17) as they will face Wheaton College in a non-conference matchup at 7:00 p.m. The Cougars will hit the road on the same date for a non-conference game against the Fitchburg State Falcons schedules for 7:30 p.m.