Men's Basketball Falls To Deleware Valley In First Round Of Lycoming Tournament

Williamsport, PA --- Worcester State lost to Deleware Valley, 73-59, in the opening round of the Lycoming's Louis Basinger Tournament this evening. The Lancers will take on Penn State Du Bois tomorrow at 2 PM in the consolation game.

The Aggies (5-4) were paced by the double-digit efforts of sophomore Jeremy Beckett (Reading, PA), senior James Jones (Philadelphia, PA) and first-year Nathan Bollinger (Hellam, PA). Beckett went 8-for-11 from the field en-route to 22 points as Jones poured in 21. Jones came off the bench to add 12 points and six rebounds.

For the Lancers (1-10), senior Dave Douillette (Bridgewater, MA) tallied a team-best 22 points with six boards while junior Clayton Timas (New Bedford, MA) registered on 11 points and seven boards in 22 minutes of action.

Third-year teammates Ryan Testagrossa (Athol, MA) and Frank Stephenson (Fall River, MA) combined for 13 of the squads 20 assists as the team connected for 24 field goals.

WSU trailed 9-6 early on in the contest before Deleware Valley erupted with a 17-2 spurt to take a 26-8 advantage at the 11:47 mark.

The Aggies built up their lead to as much as 36-12 with five minutes remaining in the period before the Lancers trimmed down the advantage with an 11-2 run to close out the half for the 38-23 score at the break.

The Blue and Gold got to within 11 points twice in the beginning of the second stanza, but Deleware Valley proved to be too much as they would maintain the double-digit margin for the remainder of the contest.

Ahead 52-40 midway through the period, the Aggies outscored the Lancers, 13-2 over a stretch of six minutes to take control of the game for the 65-42 edge with 5:55 left. WSU would try to rally, but they would only get the deficit to 15 points (65-50) with four minutes left to play.

Worcester State struggled to shoot well in the early goings of the contest as they went 10 for 32 in the opening stanza (31 percent). The Lancers came out of the locker room and actually outscored Deleware Valley (36-35) in the second frame. WSU had a 54 percent clip from the field in the second period (14-for-26).

The Aggies shot 49 percent for the contest and dished out 17 assists as a squad for 29 made shots from the field. WSU had a 37-33 rebounding advantage while Deleware Valley held leads in points off turnovers (23-16) and fast-break points (16-12).