Men's Basketball Holds Off Bridgewater State

WORCESTER, Mass. - The Worcester State University men's basketball team held on to defeat Bridgewater State University 83-81 Wednesday evening in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference action at John P. Brissette Court.

With the win, Worcester State hits the halfway point in the conference slate with a league record of 5-1, and a record of 9-10 overall. Bridgewater State moves to 6-12 overall and 3-3 in the MASCAC.

The game featured three ties and 11 lead changes, but the game looked firmly in Worcester State's control just over six minutes into the second half, when Chris Cardoso (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) rattled in a layup to extend the Lancer lead to 62-46. The 16-point lead was Worcester's largest lead of the evening.

Moments later however, after Erik Bjorn (Holden, Mass.) hit a pair of free throws to put the Lancers ahead 73-60, the Bears responded with a 14-0 run over five and a half minutes to take a 74-73 lead. The teams went shot for shot down the stretch, but Worcester State's Corey Olivier (Maynard, Mass.) hit the eventual game-winner on a jumper with 1:40 to go, putting the Lancers ahead 83-81. Both defenses locked it down in the final 100 seconds, concluding with a three-point heave from Bridgewater's Jonathan Mercado at the horn with bounced out for the Lancers to secure the win.

Bridgewater's Rayshon Ward and Lancers Bjorn and Cardoso all finished with 19 point double-doubles, with 14, 13, and 10 rebounds respectively. Olivier and Sam Dion (Barre, Mass.) each put up 11 points for Worcester State in the victory as well. Ryan Carney poured in 14 points for the visitors.

Worcester State will be off over the weekend, but will return to the court next Wednesday for a conference matchup with Westfield State. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. Bridgewater State will play again on Saturday, when the Bears make the trip MCLA.

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