WORCESTER, Mass. – Junior Bilal Shakir (Worcester, Mass.) led five players in double figures as he scored a game-high 22 points to help lift the Worcester State men's basketball team to an 81-66 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology on the second day of the Clark Alumni Holiday Invitational.
Winners of three in a row the Lancers improve to 7-5 while the Leopards slip to 4-6. This was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
After falling behind early, Worcester State scored six straight points before a senior Kyle Romich (Groton, Mass.) three-pointer trimmed the deficit to one. The Lancers led by four with 16:28 left after a Shakir basket, however Romich drained another trifecta 17 seconds later to bring the game back to one.
Shakir hit a triple of his own to push the lead to four and senior Ian Therriault (Auburn, Maine) cut the lead in half with a layup.
Worcester State maintained its lead until a sophomore Cesar Fulcar (Watertown, Mass.) layup and a three pointer from sophomore Matthew Dean (Gilford, N.H.) gave Wentworth a two-point (28-26) lead with 7:54 left. On the Lancers' next possession, Shakir knotted the game at 28-all, however sophomore Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) gave the Black & Gold a 30-28 lead with 6:09 left.
The Lancers used a 7-0 run over the next 1:06 and took a 35-30 lead after a three pointer from freshman Alex Santos (Lawrence, Mass.). Romich responded with a three of his own, which was matched by one by Shakir. Ganley made it a three-point game with a basket with 2:44 remaining in the half.
Santos drained a pair from behind the arc – sandwiched around one from sophomore Ben Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.) – to give Worcester State a 46-40 lead at the half. Both teams shot well over the first 20 minutes with the Lancers connecting on 53.1 percent of their shots and the Leopards 48.6 percent.
Wentworth trimmed the lead to as few as four early in the second half, including when Ganley converted a layup with 14:59 remaining. However, the Leopards went on a scoring drought of just over four minutes. Despite the drought, the Lancers were only able to increase their lead to eight as they would be held without a field goal for just under four minutes.
A three pointer from sophomore Sam Knollmeyer (Hampton, N.H.) made it 62-57 with 8:52 left but Worcester State scored the next seven points to push its lead into double digits. A Ganley layup with 3:24 left brought the lead down to single digits, however the Leopards would get no closer.
In addition to his 22 points, Shakir had six assists. Santos finished with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists, and four steals, junior Marquez McKreith-Collins (Springfield, Mass.) had 15 points and four assists, junior Ryan DiBernardo (Worcester, Mass.) had 11 points, and junior Paul Brooks (Arlington, Mass.) added 10 points. In the second half Worcester State shot 50 percent from the floor while Wentworth shot just 29.1 percent.
Romich, who earned a spot on the all-tournament team, finished with 19 points to go along with seven rebounds. Ganley added 16 points, and Dean scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Wentworth resumes Commonwealth Coast Conference play on Tuesday at Western New England.
August 20, 2016
Romich, McLaughlin Earn Senior Scholar-Athlete Awards
August 1, 2016
Romich Earns Spot on NABC Honors Court
February 23, 2016
Men's Basketball Upset by UNE in CCC Quarterfinals
February 22, 2016
Romich Notches Third Player of the Week Honor
February 22, 2016
Romich, Ganley, Galloway Take Home CCC Honors
February 21, 2016
Men's Basketball Set to Host UNE in CCC Quarterfinals
February 20, 2016
Men's Basketball Downs Roger Williams, Earns Number Two Seed
February 16, 2016
Ganley's Heroics Lift Men's Basketball Past Endicott
February 13, 2016
Men's Basketball Sneaks Past Salve Regina
February 11, 2016
Academic All-District Honors Bestowed on Romich
February 10, 2016
Romich's Late Basket Lifts Men's Basketball Past Gordon
February 6, 2016
Eastern Nazarene Fends Off Late Men's Basketball Rally
February 2, 2016
Men's Basketball Streak Snapped by Western New England
January 30, 2016
Men's Basketball Rolls Past Curry for Second Straight Win
January 27, 2016
D3Hoops.com, ECAC Honor Ganley With Weekly Honors
January 27, 2016
Men's Basketball Cruises Past UNE
January 25, 2016
Ganley Named CCC Player of the Week
January 23, 2016
Strong Second Half Lifts Nichols Past Men's Basketball
January 18, 2016
Romich Earns CCC Player of the Week Honors
January 16, 2016
DeVaux's Hot Shooting Helps Men's Basketball to Second Straight Win
January 14, 2016
Men's Basketball Fends Off Late Endicott Charge
January 9, 2016
Fast Start Helps Roger Williams Get Past Men's Basketball
January 7, 2016
Strong Second Half Lifts Men's Basketball Past Eastern Nazarene
January 5, 2016
Men's Basketball Gets Back on Winning Track
December 30, 2015
Worcester State Pulls Away From Men's Basketball
December 29, 2015
Men's Basketball Outlasted by Clark
December 12, 2015
Balanced Attack Lifts Men's Basketball to Second Straight Win
December 8, 2015
Men's Basketball Rallies Past Curry
December 7, 2015
Romich Named CCC Player of the Week
December 5, 2015
Nichols Holds on to Defeat Men's Basketball
November 21, 2015
Strong First Half Pushes Tufts Past Men's Basketball
November 17, 2015
Men's Basketball Falls at Northeastern
November 14, 2015
Romich, Knollmeyer Pace Men's Basketball Past Emmanuel
November 13, 2015
Men's Basketball Picked Fourth in CCC Preseason Poll
November 13, 2015
Men's Basketball Edged in Season Opener
September 23, 2015
Men's Basketball Completes Schedule With Game at Northeastern