Worcester State rolls past Men’s Basketball, 92-74

Worcester, MA- Worcester State jumped out to what proved to be an insurmountable first half lead on their way to a 92-74 win over MCLA tonight in MASCAC action. With the win the Lancers improve to 19-5 (11-0 MASCAC) while the Trailblazers fall to 7-15 (3-8 MASCAC).

Tied at 5-5 after a Reece Racette jumper, Worcester State would go on a 15-2 run capped off by a Sam Dion 3-pointer to give the Lancers a 20-7 lead eight minutes into the contest.

Aaron Nkrumah's jumper at the end of the first half would give Worcester State a comfortable 43-24 advantage heading into the locker room.

MCLA came out firing in the second half scoring the first 13 points to cut the lead to 43-37 after a JoJo Garcia 3-pointer at the 16-minute mark. A Nkrumah jumper would momentarily stop the bleeding, but Noah Yearsley would cut the deficit to 45-40 after another Trailblazer 3-pointer.

The Lancers would steady the ship and reassert themselves going on another 15-2 run to push the lead back up to 60-42 with just under twelve minutes to play.

A Jake Bluestein 3-pointer with four minutes left would make it 79-66, but that is as close as MCLA would get as the regular season MASCAC champs finished off the Trailblazers 92-74.

Worcester State placed five players in double figures. Ryan Rubenskas led the way with 18 points while Nkrumah with 16 and Tayjaun McKenzie with 15 both had strong performances.

Racette and Yearsley each chipped in 9 points to lead MCLA.

The Lancers shot 47.5% from the field though went just 4-20 from beyond the arc. The Trailblazers shot 37.2% from the field including 9-33 from distance.

Both teams will wrap up their regular seasons on Saturday at noon. Worcester State will travel to Framingham State while MCLA will host Bridgewater State.