WORCESTER, Mass. –The Worcester State University men's basketball team dealt the Salem State Vikings their first MASCAC loss of the season, as the Lancers defeated the top team in the conference 88-83 Wednesday evening at the Kneller Athletic Center on the campus of Clark University.

With the win, Worcester State improves to 14-7 and 6-2 in the MASCAC, while the Vikings dip to 13-8 (7-1 MASCAC), and still stand at the top of the MASCAC.

Salem State started out with a 3-pointer and a layup from Jacob Lindland (Hamilton, Mass.) to give the Vikings the quick advantage. Though, Worcester State was able to tie the game up three times within the first few minutes of play, and eventually take the lead for the remainder of the first with 13:39 on the clock. Worcester went on a 9-0 run to project the score to 22-13. The Lancers got comfortable with the, on average, 10-point lead, and went into the half with a score of 45-35 in their favor.

Salem came out of the locker rooms looking for a comeback as they clipped the Lancers lead and got within one at 13:52 on a layup from Shaquan Murray (Boston, Mass.) to bring the score to 57-56. Worcester's Paul Brooks (Arlington, Mass.) came back with a thundering dunk, though, Lindland returned the favor with a 3-pointer to tie the score at 59. The score was tied multiple times and the Vikings took the lead twice until 1:17 remaining in the game when DiBernardo made a huge layup to put the Lancers back on top 84-83. Good defense by the Blue and Gold did not allot the Vikings to score in their next two possessions. Worcester State's Bilal Shakir (Worcester, Mass.) made a jumper for the Lancers with 40 seconds remaining, and then Alex Santos (Lawrence, Mass.) put the icing on the cake with two good free throws to seal the deal at 88-83.  

"I am very happy with our effort tonight," commented head coach David Lindberg. "It was a solid team win for us with contributions from many guys at key moments."

Brooks registered a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, while shooting 70% from the field and adding in a game-high five blocks on the evening. Three other Lancers scored in double digits including Santos, DiBernardo, and Shakir with 19, 15, and 14 points, respectively. DiBernardo was one rebound shy of a double-double, and went 5-for-6 from the field and a perfect 100% from beyond the arc and from the free throw line.

"Ryan did a great job on their leading scorer all night and had some big baskets including the one with 1:17 to go," said Lindberg. "Ryan and Paul also did a great job on the boards, in particular, in the second half."

Overall, the Lancers shot 50.8 percent from the floor and went 19-for-23 (82.6%) from the free throw line. "Free throw shooting for the second game in a row was huge," stated Lindberg. "We did a good job getting there and knocking them down when we had to."

For the Vikings, Murray netted a game-high 24 points going 10-for-23 from the field, and 4-for-6 from the three point range. Lindland was right behind him with 17 points, going 6-for-13 and draining five three's for the Vikings. Drew Healy (Lowell, Mass.) registered a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Marcus Faison (Cambridge, Mass.) gave Salem State 11 points and Brendan Bouthillette (Billerica, Mass.) put up eight.

Worcester State resumes play next Wednesday (Feb. 10) when they will travel to Fitchburg State for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. Salem State returns to action this Saturday (Feb. 6) when they will host MCLA for a MASCAC battle.