Men's Basketball Outlasts Worcester State In Overtime, 93-82

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The visiting Bridgewater State University men's basketball team posted a 93-82 overtime victory over Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) foe Worcester State University on Wednesday night in Worcester.

The Bears improve to 15-7 on the season and 8-2 in the MASCAC, while the host Lancers fall to 5-17 overall and 2-7 in conference play.

Senior guard Barrett Murphy (Marshfield, Mass.) paced the Bears with a career-high 22 points. Murphy connected on 7 of 11 field goal attempts including 4-for-6 from three-point range.

BSU senior forward Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.) recorded his fifth straight double-double as he finished with 21 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Classmate Kyle Gibson (Franklin, Mass.) notched 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting to go along with six boards and three assist, while senior guard Justin Clark (Yarmouth Port, Mass.) chipped in with 17 points and three assists.  Sophomore guard Fawaz Mass (Marshfield, Mass.) added nine points in 15 minutes off the bench for the visitors.

The Lancers were guided by a career-best 28 points on a 11-for-14 effort from the floor by sophomore Marquez McKreith-Collins (Springfield, Mass.).  Senior Charles Gunter (Boston, Mass.) tallied 19 points with six rebounds, while sophomore Ryan DiBernardo (Springfield, Mass.) filled the box score with 11 points, five swipes, four helpers and a trio of caroms.

Worcester State held the early 18-13 advantage midway through the opening period before Clark and Murphy both sank two trifectas each in a 16-7 spurt to help the Bears take a 29-24 edge with 4:46 left in the stanza.

The Lancers pulled even at 31-31 on a McKreith-Collins lay-up at the 2:26 mark, but Gibson splashed the net with another trey and Mass lifted a floater from the top of the key to help the Bears lead at the intermission, 36-31.

After BSU built their margin up to 42-35 on the back of a traditional three-point play by Murphy. Worcester State responded in a big way with an 18-6 surge take over the lead, 53-48, with 11:18 remaining in regulation. The run was a team effort as six different players contributed a field goal and McKreith-Collins capped it off with a three-point play of his own.

Both teams went basket for basket the rest of the way as the Bears trimmed the deficit to one point on two occasions and WSU led by as many as six twice. Bridgewater State finally used one final kick at the end of the frame to force their third consecutive extra session game and seventh of the campaign.

With the Lancers up 70-64 with 2:26 on the clock, Lofton registered a key three-point play to whittle the lead down to a one-possession contest. 

McKreith-Collins answered with a field goal in the paint to go up 72-67, but Clark then drilled a long three-pointer to cut the deficit to two and put the pressure on the hosts entering the final minute of the game.

After the Blue and Gold ran down the shot clock and failed to get off a play on their next series, Lofton was fouled and he promptly hit both free throws to tie up the score up at 72-72 with 31 ticks on the clock. 

WSU had a chance to win it, but Gibson came up with a key rejection on a lay-up attempt by Gunter with 9.0 seconds showing on the board.

In the overtime period, the Bears scored on each of their first five possessions and used a 13-2 run to open up an 85-74 lead with 1:14 remaining on the clock.  Lofton notched six points during the run, while Gibson added four and Murphy drained a three-pointer.

The Bears would go 8-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final minute to seal the victory.

Both squads were lethal from the floor. Worcester State sizzled with a 53 percent effort (32-for-61) and the hosts canned half of their long-range shots overall (7-for-14). The visitors drained 49 percent (31-for-63) and matched the effort, connecting on eight of their 16 bids from downtown.

Bridgewater State led in points off turnovers (22-16), second-chance baskets (12-8) and generated nearly a quarter of their offense at the charity stripe with a 77 percent clip from the line (23-for-30).

The Lancers dominated the paint (48-38) and held a slight edge in transition baskets (17-13). The rebounding department was even (33-33), but BSU held the advantage in offensive caroms (12-8).

Both squads play MASCAC opponents again this Saturday at 3 o'clock. Worcester State makes the trek down I-90 to play Westfield State while the Bears entertain Fitchburg State.

Notes: The Bears played in just six overtime games in the previous six seasons combined and none in 2013-2014.