NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - The Worcester State trio of Alex Santos (Lawrence, Mass.), Bilal Shakir (Worcester, Mass.), and Ryan DiBernardo (Springfield, Mass.) combined for 76 points in leading the Lancers past the MCLA men's basketball team 104-96 in overtime this afternoon in MASCAC action from the Amsler Campus Center Gym. The win improves the Lancers to 13-7 overall and 5-2 in league play. MCLA drops their eighth straight tilt in falling to 4-15 and are 0-7 in league play.
The Trailblazers seemed to be in control of this one as they led 80-73 following a Paul Maurice (Mattapan, Mass.) free throw with just 3:10 remaining. The Lancers would go on an 8-0 spurt to switch the momentum as Shakir started the run with a jumper. Following a Trailblazer turnover, it was Santos' turn as his jumper with 1:51 left brought Worcester State within three. Another defensive stop by the visitors and a DiBernardo layup made it 80-79 still in favor of MCLA with 1:13 remaining.
The Lancers would force another turnover and when Santos was fouled. He then connected on both free throws to make it 81-80 in favor of the Lancers with under a minute to play. MCLA's Dakari Hannah Wornum (Dorchester, Mass.) converted a conventional three point play with 28 seconds left off a nice feed from Ki-Shawn Monroe (Springfield, Mass.) giving MCLA back the lead at 83-81. DiBernardo drove the lane for the Lancers and converted with 21 seconds left tying the game at 83.
From there, Trailblazer Khalil Paul (Troy, N.Y.) went the length of the floor and made a short pull up jumper with 11 seconds left putting MCLA on top. Without calling timeout, the Lancers Santos took the ball the length of the floor and his pullup jumper with 0.4 on the clock tied the game and essentially sent it to overtime.
In the OT, MCLA moved out quickly to a 91-87 lead on the heels of a Careem Kirksey (Mattapan, Mass.) and Maurice 3-pointers. The Lancers however, would clamp down on defense and when Paul Brooks (Arlington, Mass.) converted a layup, they led 92-91. Santos added some breathing room with another 3-pointer and the Lancers held MCLA at bay by connecting on their final six free throws to preserve the victory.
Santos actually struggled for much of the game from the floor going just 6-24 and 3-12 from three point land. He did, however, connect on 15-21 free throws for his game-high 30 points. Shakir went 6-20 from the field and 4-13 from beyond the arc and added 25 points. DiBernardo collected a double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds. Brooks ended with 10 points, but muscled his way to a game best 18 rebounds. Jamal Mustapha (Worcester, Mass.) notched ten points off the bench for Worcester State.
The Lancers shot just 34% from the floor in the game, however, they were 5-9 in the OT.
MCLA was led by Maurice's team-high 20 point effort which included a 3-4 showing from 3-point range. Joe Wiggins (Pittsfield, Mass.) added 19 points, including 17 in the first half of play. Wornum ended with 11 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocked shots.
The Trailblazers shot 44% from the floor in the loss and committed 17 turnovers.
The Lancers held a convincing edge at the free throw line going 33-47 (70.2%) while MCLA was just 17-25 (68.0%) at the stripe.
Next up, the Lancers face up against Salem State on Wednesday (Feb. 3) for a home matchup at Clark University.