Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Men's Basketball team (18-9, 10-2) returns for their second year of NCAA first round action, taking on the host The Catholic University of America (24-3, 16-2) for a chance to take on Rowan, who won the game earlier in the day. It would be a game of team work and persistence for Worcester as they traveled down to DC to take on the Landmark Champions. 

Final- OT

Worcester State: 72

Catholic: 75

The opening half started fast for the Lancers surrounded by a sea of red in Franny Murray Court, as they jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the opening two minutes of action of a three pointer and bucket from juniors Aaron Nkrumah (Worcester, MA), 2024 MASCAC Player of the Year, and Brandon Goris (Bronx, NY). A deep three from senior Sam Dion (Barre, MA) would see the Lancers extend the lead to 10-2 after an offensive foul on the Cardinals placed the ball back in Worcester's hands. With the first media timeout called, the game would be all Worcester as Catholic was just 1-10 in their shooting to start the game. The size of senior Ryan Rubenskas (Bridgewater, MA) was causing struggles for CUA, resulting in awkward shots and amped up pressure  under the basket, contributing to the slow start for Catholic. The next few minutes would see Worcester continue to expand their lead, jumping out to a 19-4 lead, off Dion's hot deep shooting.

Half way through the opening half, the momentum would slightly shift to Catholic after grabbing a steal on a Lancer offensive rebound and a responding three of their own, but the fouls and cold shooting still persisted for CUA and the Lancers were able to use this to maintain their first half control of the game, grabbing two free throws by Nkrumah and a ball juggle from the Cardinals on the attack to respond with another Nkrumah basked to resettle their control as Catholic looked for their first back to back point possessions. The athleticism and speed of the Lancers began to wear on the Cardinals with rapid buckets and actions resulting in two quick timeouts as Catholic strived to combat the Worcester run and cut into the 18 point lead the Lancers built in the opening 13 minutes. A cold shooting stretch would commence for both programs for the next minute of action, as threes appeared to be the order of moment, before graduate student Sam Davies (Worcester, MA) grabbed the three point play with a layup and the foul to extend the lead to 21. With five minutes left of the half would begin to see the Cardinals looking comfortable going on a 12 point run of unanswered points as they upped the defensive pressure on Worcester. Worcester State would begin to work to swing the momentum back to the Lancers with a Goris layup, but the heat had turned on the Cardinals shooting hitting their earlier missed threes to cut the Worcester lead to just six and with one last desperation three, Worcester would take a 32-27 lead into halftime.

The start of the second half would see Catholic continue their push, with Goris grabbing the only Lancers basket in the opening five minutes while the Cardinals worked the game back to a tie game at 34-34, before a jump shot would grab Catholic their first lead of the game. The Cardinals Enzo Sechi, who had shooting struggles earlier in the game grabbed a five point Lancer lead with his 13th point forcing a Lancer timeout in a bid to regain the momentum. A Rubenskas basket would cut the lead back to four points, but a quick Dan Buckley three-pointer would push the lead back to seven before the media timeout would give each team a chance to take a breath. The cold shooting woes appeared to be safely behind them as they pushed the lead out 12 with nine minutes to go, an answering graduate student Zion Hendrix (Charlotte, NC) would close it to nine and a Nkrumah three would cut it to six. The Lancers would spend the next six minutes reigniting their heat, and after going two of three from the line with three minutes to go, the Lancers had worked their way back to a 62-62 game. A Sechi layup would give the lead back to CUA as the final minutes of the game still sat on the clock. 

Worcester State is no stranger to these games, winning their MASCAC Championship off of last second shots in both regulation and overtime to grab the win 80-79 versus Bridgewater State. With 80 seconds left on the clock, and tw Catholic turnovers would see Worcester attempt to tie the game, but the layup would fall wide as the clock ticked under 60 seconds. A Nkrumah block, rebound and layup down the other end would tie the game 64-64 with 26 seconds on the clock. A last second three pointer by Nkrumah from near half court, would push the Lancers to their second overtime game in a row. 

Worcester would be the first to grab a basket as Nkrumah continued his second half hot streak off a pull up jumper near the free throw line, but Catholic would answer back less than a minute later as Tommy Kelly hit the tree pointer to grab the point lead. A Goris trip to the line just 30 seconds later would put Worcester back in the lead at 68-67. CUA would respond with a pull up jumper and next possession three pointer to take a four point lead with under two minutes to go. Rubenskas would respond on the other end with a layup of their own to cut the lead to two. After a mop delay on the court, Catholic would inbound the ball with 12 seconds on the shot clock, Jesse Hafemeister would land the fade away jumper to reclaim the four point lead. A foul called on Catholic would send Nkrumah to the line for a one-an-one opportunity that would see him nail both shots and put the Lancers a possession away from the win. With a tactical foul by Worcester, Hafemeister would go to the line, grabbing one point and that would be the final score of the game as Worcester's last attempt fell just shy of the bucket.

Worcester State, in just their third NCAA appearance would take the host Catholic into overtime action as Nkrumah would end the day with 32 points and 12 rebounds in his double-double action, while Rubenskas was the defensive force on the night with 14 rebounds.

Release courtesy of Worcester State Sports Information