Men's Basketball Ends 22-Game Losing Streak Against Salem State

Worcester State 90, Salem State 85  OT

Box Score  |  MASCAC Tournament Bracket

Worcester, MA --- Senior Maurice Horton (Detroit, MI) notched a game-best 31 points with eight rebounds and five assists to help lead Worcester State to a 90-85 overtime triumph over Salem State this evening in MASCAC men's basketball action. The win snapped a 22-game winless streak to the Vikings as the last win for the Lancers came on January 21, 2001.

The contest was the final game of the regular season for both squads as they both enjoy home games in the first round of the conference tournament on Tuesday. Fourth-seeded Worcester State (12-13, 5-7 MASCAC) will take on #5 Fitchburg State at 8 PM while third-seeded Salem State (10-15, 8-4 MASCAC) faces off against #6 MCLA at 7.

Should both teams advance, the Lancers will travel to top-seeded Bridgewater State on Thursday while the Vikings would make the short trip down to #2 Framingham State. The conference tournament championship will be at the highest remaining seed on Saturday afternoon.

WSC was also led by sophomore Jamaal Atkins (Webster, MA) corralled a career-best 20 rseounds (12 defensive) while he also added 10 points and a pair of blocks. Junior Ryan Testagrossa (Athol, MA) netted 14 points while freshman Tim Henault (Lunenburg, MA) added 13 points as both players combined for six three-pointers.

Senior Darren Schmidt (Buckland, MA) was perfect from the field (4-for-4) and the free throw line (2-for-2) with 10 points as junior Dave Douillette (Bridgewater, MA) notched eight points with six boards and three assists off the bench.

Fourth-year Brennan Bennett (Northbridge, MA) paced four Salem State players in double-figure scoring as he had 17 points while freshman Terry Carter (Revere, MA) chipped in with 16 points. Sophomore Brian Clark (Deerfield, MA) and first-year Tavone Wynder (Boston, MA) also contributed 14 points apiece.

Worcester State led 14-5 at 14:27 to open up the first half before the Vikings embarked on an 11-2 run to knot the score at 16-16, 3½ minutes later. A pair of trey’s by Henault and Horton put the Lancers up by six (22-16), but Salem State would blank WSC for a five minute stretch and take the 30-22 lead at 4:30 with a 14-0 surge.

The Blue and Gold would then wake up from their haze and outscore the Vikings 17-4 to close out the half with the 39-34 advantage at the break.

With WSC ahead by five at early in the second stanza (45-40), the Vikings soon equalized the score for what would be the first of six ties and nine lead changes for the remainder of regulation. Neither team would hold more than a four point cushion as Salem State took it at 13:42 on a shot from downtown by Wynder (55-51) and the Lancers held it at 11:19 following a three pointer by Testagrossa (61-57).

After Atkins gave the Lancers the 76-75 lead with 81 seconds left, Carter responded with a lay-up to put the visitors up by a single point. Horton then converted a field goal and a pair of free throws, following a Viking miscue, to give WSC the 80-77 edge with 25 seconds remaining. Out of a Salem State timeout, Bennett found an open lane as he hit the lay-up and added the exclamation point on the three point play to force the extra session.

WSC senior Pat Hamilton (Templeton, MA) opened overtime with a field goal, but the Vikings soon took a 83-82 lead on two points in the paint by Bennett and the front end of a double bonus opportunity by sophomore Tristan Shannon (Andover, MA). The advantage would be the last one Salem State would see in the game as Worcester State scored seven consecutive points to open up an 89-83 edge. The Lancers did most of their damage from the free throw line as they went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe.

SSC tried to rally in the last two minutes of the contest, but they would go 1-for-6 from the field and miss a trio of three pointers in the closing seconds. Worcester State also logged three of their six blocks in the game during that same stretch as well.

WSC held a 49-45 edge off the boards while SSC was ahead in offensive rebounds (20-17) and points in the paint (40-34). Both teams barely turned the ball over as the Lancers had 12 to the Vikings 11 miscues.

Worcester State shot 44 percent for the game (33-for-75) and connected for 35 percent from beyond the arc (8-for-23) while Salem State shot 40 percent for the contest (31-for-81) - including a 17-for-36 performance (47%) in the second stanza.

Horton, Schmidt and Hamilton were honored in a pre-game ceremony on "senior day" for playing in their final regular season home game.