WORCESTER, Mass. – Tournament MVP Eric Bjorn grabbed 24 rebounds to lead Worcester State to a 65-53 at the 2023 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference championship game at the Brissette Court in Worcester on Sunday afternoon.
With the win Worcester State (22-5)earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Bids will be announced on Monday.
Worcester outrebounded the Owls 57-37 and parlayed 22 offensive rebounds into 31 second chance points in the game.
Westfield trailed 31-20 at the half. Owls missed their last five shots of the half as the Lancers heated up from three point range, as Zion Hendrix hit three straight three-pointers to help turn what was a three-point game, after Westfield's Gerry McManus scored ayup with 5:09 left , into an 11-point halftime lead.
Worcester opened the second half with a 7-0 run on a layup from Aaron Nkrumah, a three pointer from Sam Dion, and a breakaway dunk from Nkrumah.
Westfield chipped away, trimming the lead to 42-35 after back-to-back JT Thompson 3 pointers that forced a time out from the Lancers with 11:50 left in regulation.
Hendrix answered with a third-chance opportunity trifecta from the top of the key with 11:12 to play, and led 49-35 after Nkrumah dunk as the Lancers got a steal and a breakaway with 10:07 to play.
Westfield trimmed the lead down to nine on several occasions, and finally got the lead to as few as seven, at 59-52 when Thompson was fouled on a three-point try and made two of three with 1:49 left in regulation.
Worcester's Dion scored on a drive to make it 61-52 with 1:20 left, and then Bjorn got layup on yet another second-chance try and boosted the Lancer lead to 63-52. A missed three on other end and Owls forced to foul.
Hendrix led Worcester State with 16 points. Nkrumah added 15 and Sam Dion 11. Bjorn finished with eight offensive rebounds among his game high 24, and dished out three assists, while finishing with five points. Bjorn, who scored his 1000th career point earlier in the season, grabbed his 1000th career rebound today.
Westfield was led by 29 from Thompson, the only Owl in double figures. Kumar Brown added nine points and 12 rebounds. Brendon Hamilton finished with five points and four rebounds, as he was bottled up inside by Bjorn and Ryan Rubenskas all afternoon. Hamilton finishes the year with 954 career points. A senior, Hamilton still has the option of returning for his "covid year" of eligibility.
Momentum swing back and forth early in the first half. Westfield led 11-6 after Brendan Keaveny hit a corner three on an inbounds play with 11:25 to play.
Worcester grabbed a 15-13 lead on Brendan Goris' layup with 8:31 left in the half.
The Lancers outrebounded the Owls 30-20 in the half, including 11 offensive rebounds that they turned into 16 points. Worcester was 7-16 (.438) from behind the arc, while Westfield shot 26.5 percent from the floor (9-35).
JT Thompson led the Owls with seven in the first half. Hendrix netted 11 for the Lancers, shooting 3-6 from long range.
A raucous crowd of 1,065, including a sizable Owls contingent that traveled, attended the game.
The Lancers won the conference tournament title for the first time since 1994.
Westfield finishes the year 12-16 overall. The Owls were seeking their third straight tournament title. Westfield won the league tournament in 2020 and 2022 with wins over the Lancers.
