Worcester State Edges Roger Williams, 61-58

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Worcester State University Lancers edged the Roger Williams Hawks 61-58 Tuesday afternoon at the Kneller Gymnasium on the campus of Clark University on the opening day of the Clark Alumni Holiday Invitational.

A trio of Lancers scored in double digits, as Paul Brooks (Arlington, Mass.) registered a double-double. Brooks scored a game-high 15 points and also had 10 rebounds (seven offensively) for the Blue and Gold. Junior guard, Bilal Shakir (Worcester, Mass.) scored 14 points, while freshman guard, Alex Santos (Lawrence, Mass.) added in 13. Junior forward, Ryan DiBernardo (Springfield, Mass.) recorded eight points for the Lancers, while junior guard, Marquez McKreith-Collins (Springfield, Mass.) posted five points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

For the Hawks, freshman guard Austin Coene (Tyngsborough, Mass.) led the team with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. He went 4-6 (66.7%) from the field and 3-5 (60.0%) from the free throw line. Also scoring in double digits for Roger Williams was sophomore guard Nick Marni (Loudonville, N.Y.) with 10 and notching three steals.

Worcester State was entitled to the first points of the game off a layup from Shakir just three seconds into play. Though, the Hawks answered with a 3-pointer from Marni to give them their first lead of the game. Worcester State then went on a 16-2 run to increase the score to 18-5 with about 10 minutes left in the first half. The Hawks closed the gap off two jumpers and a 3-pointer, but they were unable to regain the lead for the remaining portion of the half.

Going into the second half with the Hawks trailing by six (30-24), junior forward Josh Syska (Peabody, Mass.) made a 3-point shot to constrict the gap by three just 30 seconds into play. Junior guard Andrew Wasik (Gainesville, Fla.) brought the Hawks within one on a jumper at 18:51.Though, the Lancers widened the gap on good shots from Brooks and Shakir.

With 14:05 remaining in the second half, Roger Williams' Coene tied the score at 39 on a layup. Worcester State regained their lead at 12:38 on a 3-point shot from Santos and did not permit the Hawks to get ahead of them for the remainder of the game. With the Lancers up by two with one minute left of play, the game resulted in a free-throw competition. Both teams went back and forth with each other, until Worcester's Manny Cabral (Roslindale, Mass.) sealed the deal with a pair of free throws to increase the Lancers' lead to three with just a few seconds left on the clock. Each team made one more free throw following Cabral's, as the game concluded with Worcester State on top of Roger Williams at 61-58.

With the win, the Lancers improve to 6-5 on the season, while the Hawks fall below .500 to 4-5. Both teams are back in action tomorrow as the Lancers will face Wentworth at 12 p.m., and the Hawks will match up against the tournament hosts, Clark University at 2 p.m.