Worcester, MA- On Wednesday evening, the Worcester State Men's Basketball team was back in action to take on Bridgewater State in their home MASCAC contest opener. The Lancers defeated the Bears by a score of 72-67.

Early in the game, Worcester State tried to set the tone by playing a full-court press defense. Both teams' offenses had a difficult time hitting jump shots early on, as it was 10-3 Worcester State five minutes into the game. Bridgewater State responded with a 14-5 scoring stretch over the next two minutes to take their first game lead at 17-15. The Lancers were able to explode on a 15-2 run to take the game's first double-digit lead at 30-19 thanks to a balanced scoring attack. A couple of clutch shots from junior Sam Dion (Barre, Mass.) and a miraculous half-court buzzer-beater shot by sophomore Aaron Nkrumah (Worcester, Mass.) provided Worcester State a 45-29 lead at the half.

The Lancers depended on obtaining defensive stops as the second half got underway to re-start their offensive momentum. The Bears responded by cutting the Worcester State lead to single digits with just under 17 minutes remaining in the second half. With a little under ten minutes in the game, it looked as if Bridgewater State was going to rally a comeback as they were able to cut the Lancers lead to five. As the clock read 1:07, the Lancers were clinging to a 68-67 lead. Thanks to a clutch offensive rebound by graduate student Erik Bjorn (Holden, Mass.) and excellent defensive stops, Worcester State was able to pick up a big MASCAC win with a 72-67 victory.

Nkrumah was the game's leading scorer with 16 points, notching 10 rebounds, an assist and four steals in the game.

Worcester State (10-5, 2-0) is back in action on January 14 when they remain home to take on Westfield State in another MASCAC matchup with tip-off at noon. Bridgewater State (11-4, 1-2) will be back on the court on January 14 when they return home to compete against Christopher Newport with a scheduled start of 12pm.