Bridgewater State and Worcester State are headed to the title game of the 2024 MASCAC Men's Basketball Tournament after coming out victorious on Thursday night. 

#1 Worcester State 76, #4 MCLA 52     Box Score

Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Lancers (16-9, 10-2 MASCAC) hosted the MCLA Trailblazers (14-11, 7-5 MASCAC) in the MASCAC Men's Basketball Semifinals for an opportunity to advance to the championship game.

FINAL: LANCERS 76 | MCLA 52

PRE-GAME NOTES:

• The season series between these two teams is even at (1-1). MCLA traveled to Worcester on January 24th, handing the Lancers their first home loss since Feb. 14, 2021. Worcester returned the favor, defeating MCLA on the road 100-76 last week.

• MCLA's senior guard Quentin Gittens (Pittsfield, MA) is a potential candidate for Conference Player of the Year. Gittens finished the regular season tied for first in points per game (20.0 PPG), third in rebounds (9.1 REB), and second in assists per game (4.3 AST).    

• Worcester senior forward and last season's MASCAC Player of the Year Aaron Nkrumah (Worcester, MA) ended his regular season tied with Gittens in points per game (20.0 PPG). Nkrumah, selected as a Preseason All-American, finished seventh in rebounds per game (8.0 REB) alongside placing second in steals per game (2.6 STL)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The MASCAC Semifinals kicked off with the Lancers winning the opening tip and marching down the court as senior center Ryan Rubenskas (Bridgewater, MA) finished off a layup at the rim to take the first lead of the game. Eight minutes into the half, Aaron Nkrumah drove down the lane with defenders in space, elevating for an emphatic one-handed jam. Two minutes remained in the half as Nkrumah saw a lane open up again driving with a head full of steam and throwing down once again raising the crowd's energy.

Trailblazers sophomore guard Jake Bluestein (San Diego, CA) found a groove, draining two three-pointers in the half to keep MCLA within striking distance. Senior guard Quentin Gittens (Pittsfield, MA) had a dominant first-half performance scoring thirteen points with six rebounds, four assists, and two steals.   

The Lancers took a 38-32 lead into the halftime break. Nkrumah had twelve points, eight rebounds, and one assist. Teammate and sophomore guard Brandon Goris (Bronx, NY) finished with ten points on four of five shooting from the field.

Returning from intermission the Trailblazers came out firing on all cylinders in an attempt for a comeback victory. Gittens displayed his conference dominance making multiple tough shots and layups as he was heavily defended using his strength and speed to finish. Bluestein drilled his third three-pointer of the night in the half in the MCLA bid to stay tight on the action. 

Senior guard Sam Dion (Barre, MA) scored sixteen points hauling in three rebounds and two steals. Ryan Rubenskas scored eighteen points and six rebounds in the victory. Worcester had a commanding 63-49 lead as six minutes remained in the game coasting to a victory after a 6-2 team foul advantage. Brandon Goris's night ended with eighteen points, five rebounds, and four assists.

Gittens finished the night with a monster stat line of twenty-three points, thirteen rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Bluestein had nine points on the night with teammate Jayden Mills scoring five points and taking in four rebounds.

WHATS NEXT?:

With the victory, the Lancers return to the MASCAC Championship for a third consecutive year where they will host Bridgewater State on Saturday, February 24th with a scheduled tip-off at 1 PM.

#2 Bridgewater State 83, #3 Westfield State 74     Box Score

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team had a rough finish to the regular season last week.

The Bears stumbled late in their last game at Westfield State University and were dealt a 10-point loss, costing BSU a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference co championship with Worcester State University.

Eight days after that defeat, BSU bounced right back against that same Westfield State team in the semifinal round of the MASCAC tournament.

The Bears had three players with double-doubles in a 83-74 victory over the Owls before a large crowd at the Tinsley Center on Thursday night.

The victory sends BSU (14-11) to the MASCAC title game for the first time since it last won the championship in 2018. The second-seeded Bears will be at defending champion Worcester State (17-9) on Saturday at 1 p.m. with an automatic bid in the NCAA Division 3 tournament on the line.

Precious Okoh (Brockton, Mass.) had 27 points with four 3-pointers and 10 assists in 38 minutes for BSU while graduate student Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) added 21 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks while playing all 40 minutes.

Sophomore Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) contributed 13 points, 10 rebounds and two steals while freshman Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.) came off the bench to score 10 points.

"Coming off the loss last week, we had a feeling we were probably going to see them again," said Halbleib, "so we were extra locked in all week."

Said Okoh: "We dedicated the week to practice, everything we did in the loss, we just got better at it. Last week, I didn't think we were supposed to win that game, but nature runs its course. We came back with a win and now we've got a championship to win on Saturday."

The last time BSU trailed was 14-13 with 12:10 to go in the first half, but with Halbleib getting 13 points and eight rebounds and Okoh scoring 12 points, the Bears opened a 35-29 halftime advantage.

BSU shot 58 percent in the second half and led by as many as 17 points. Westfield State scored 13 points in the final 1:47 to get the deficit under double figures.

Okoh had 15 second-half points while Halbleib had eight points and seven rebounds after the break.

Westfield State (19-8) was down, 49-45, with 13:45 left, but BSU went on a 10-4 run to get the lead up to 10 (59-49) at the midway point of the half. Okoh hit a pair of 3-pointers and added a layup in that span.

Kikuba hit a 3-pointer with 6:27 to go to widen the margin to 70-55 and a layup by Halbleib with 1:57 remaining put BSU on top, 78-61.

Westfield State could get no closer than nine down the stretch with three Okoh free throws and two by Kikuba helping to hold off the Owls.

As BSU moved nearer to Thursday and the tourney opener, coach Matt McLaughlin could see his team being ready to go.

"I thought it was challenging because we had two morning practices and that  was a changeup," said McLaughlin. "When we came back on Tuesday and Wednesday, it was a different mentality. The understanding of being in that zone, locked in and understanding what was ahead of us was there."

Having three players register double-doubles, a rarity, was a key for BSU.

"It's very hard to do, but we've got guys who absolutely get it done," said McLaughlin. "They work and we're fortunate to have them.

"Em's just tough. When he's able to dominate the glass and pick up those offensive rebounds, it's huge. Precious is Precious. That's what you hope for from him.

"We were the first to the floor. That was a big part, that toughness piece, being the aggressor all night."

BSU split the season series with Worcester State with each team winning at home. The Lancers advanced with a 76-52 win over the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

The Bears have won seven conference tournament titles starting in 1999. Worcester won its second MASCAC championship last season, defeating Westfield State.

Westfield State was led by Juju Omot (Springfield, Mass.) with 21 points and eight rebounds, Angel Price-Espada (Cambridge, Mass.) with 18 points, Kuany Teng (Manchester, N.H.) with 12 points and eight rebounds and Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass.) with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Releases courtesy of Bridgewater State and Worcester State Sports Information