Worcester, MA- On Saturday afternoon, the Worcester State Men's Basketball team went back on the road to take on Emerson, hoping to capture their second straight road victory in December. The attempt fell just shy for the Lancer who narrowly missed capturing their second straight road victory this month as they were defeated by the Lions 80-72.
Worcester State tried to set the tempo against Emerson from the opening possession. Early in the game, both teams tried to establish their offenses in the paint and traded early baskets before Emerson went on a quick 4-0 run to lead 8-4 four minutes into the contest. Worcester State was able to obtain a lot of second chance opportunities off the Emerson zone defense on the offensive end with the help of graduate student Erik Bjorn (Holden, Mass.), which led to a 19-15 lead for the Lancers with 10:36 remaining in the half. Unfortunately for the Lancers, the Lions were zoned in on the defensive end, which led to offensive opportunities on the other end to take a 21-8 run and a 36-27 lead with 3:42 left in the first. Worcester State went on a deep run of their won, taking a 10-2 scoring advantage to end the first half and cut the Emerson lead to one point as they headed into the locker room with a score of 38-37.
The game score stayed 38-37 as the second half ticked away. Coach Tyler Hundley drew up a great first possession play on the bench resulting in sophomore Aaron Nkrumah (Worcester, Mass.) being fouled going up for an alley-oop slam, after sinking two free throws his team then took a 39-38 lead. Emerson was not disturbed by Worcester State opening up a lead early in the second half as Brendan McNamara (Arlington, Mass.) was able to nail a three-point shot from the wing to put the Lions up 52-45 with 13:30 remaining in the game. The Lions were able to obtain the first double-digit lead of the game at 61-50 when they hit a jumper with a little over 10:30 remaining in the game. Sean Coman (Dallas, Texas) was able to drive his defensive steal into a layup conversation to put the Lions back up by 11 at 73-62 with under 2 minutes remaining. Emerson held off Worcester State the rest of the way to win the contest 80-72.
Worcester State captilized in the game off of their 14 offensive rebounds as they resulted in 18 second-chance points. Two Lancers scored double figures as senior Zion Hendrix (Charlotte, N.C.) had 14 points, while junior Ryan Rubenskas (Bridgewater, Mass.) had a team-high 22 points.
Worcester State (6-4) is back in action Dec. 6 for a home contest against Lesley with a tip-off at 5:30. Emerson (4-3) will be on the road Dec. 6 against Salem State with a tip-off at 7:00.