Men's Basketball Takes Hampton Inn Classic Opener In Overtime Over Trinity

N. Dartmouth, MA --- Junior newcomer Dane Jobst (Athol, MA) tallied a game-best 29 points and nine rebounds while classmate Robert Hunter (St. Louis, MI) finished with 24 points and six steals as they helped lead Worcester State to a 103-93 overtime triumph over Trinity (CT) in the opening round of the Hampton Inn Classic hosted by UMass Dartmouth.

In the season opener for both squads, the Lancers move to the championship where they will take Wheaton tomorrow at 4 o'clock. The Bantams will play the host Corsairs in the consolation at 6 PM.

The last time that the Blue and Gold went over the century mark in a game was a 100-46 win over Becker almost eight years to the day (11/19/04) in the first game of the Worcester County Classic.

With Trinity clinging to the 10-8 advantage at the 14:08 mark in the first period, the Bantams used an 11-3 spurt to open up a 22-11 game nearly four minutes later – including a trio of threes – with two by junior Hart Glieldman (New York, NY).

Trinity maintained double-digits for the remainder of the stanza and led by as many as 17 twice.

As the Bantams led 40-23 with 2:23 on the clock, Worcester State outscored their opponents 9-4 to trail 44-32 at the intermission.

In the first half, nearly one half of Trinity's offense came by way of the three-point arc as they netted eight of nine for 24 of their 44 points. The Lancers stayed in the game with some strong scoring from the charity stripe with a 13-for-15 line from the free throw line (87 percent).

The Blue and Gold came out of the gate nailing their first four shots from the field as senior Kyle Ferreira (Westport, MA) and freshman Alex Lopez (Springfield, MA/Commerce) were a spark with two trey's each to trail by three (46-43), but the Bantams went on an 11-3 run for a 57-47 point advantage five minutes into the final stanza.

Worcester State got as close as six on two occasions and five at the 10 minute mark, but Trinity used a cold shooting streak by WSU to go back up by 12 with 7:57 left in regulation (72-60).

The Lancers then parlayed four Bantam miscues into six points, converted four lay-ups and went on a 13-2 surge to make the score a 74-73 game with 4:20 to play.

Trinity freshman Jaquinn Starks (Hartford, CT) netted a field goal before senior Monte Goodwin (Boston, MA/Belmont) and Jobst responded with two points in the paint each for the 79-78 lead.

Starks answered with three consecutive free throws to take the two-point edge with 2:03 to play (81-79), but Jobst answered with a lay-up with 1:50 on the clock and the back-end of a bonus chance with 48 ticks remaining to help Worcester State take 82-81 advantage.

After Trinity senior Mick DiStasio (Yarmouth, ME) nailed a three pointer with 33 seconds on the clock, Hunter hurled up a lay-up to help force the extra session with the game knotted 84-84.

Bantam second-year Steve Spirou (Pelham, NH) and DiStasio put in field goals to help jump-start Trinity in the first minute of overtime for the 88-85 edge, but from there the Lancers used hot shooting from beyond the arc to put the game away.

Sparked by three consecutive three pointers by Ferreira, the Lancers used a 15-4 run to open up a 100-89 margin with 49 seconds left in overtime. The Bantams also turned the ball over twice and missed a pair of chances from the field.

Jobst and Ferreira each combined to go 3-for-4 to ice the game for the Blue and Gold to help them advance to their first in-season tournament final since the Norwich Tournament last season.

Goodwin chipped in with 19 points, Ferreira added 14 points – with four three pointers – and Lopez recorded 12 in his debut. Hunter ended his night 10-for-12 from the field while Jobst hit 10 of his 17 attempts from the charity stripe.

Starks had a team-best 21 points, with an 8-for-9 tally from the free throw line, as Gieldman and DiStasio ended the game with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Freshman Shay Ajayi (Brooklyn, NY) had a squad-high seven boards as Simpson came off the bench to score 12.

The Lancers finished the contest leading in points in the paint (40-34), points off turnovers (35-16), steals (15-4), boards (33-28) and second chance points (13-5). WSU also shot 54 percent for the contest (34-for-63) – including 63 percent in the final stanza alone (20-for-35).

The Bantams bench outscored their counterparts 33-3 and the squad also connected for a blistering 59 percent for the contest (34-for-58).