WESTFIELD, Mass. – Worcester State senior forward Ryan Rubenskas (Bridgewater, Mass.) posted a game-high 33 points as the Lancers snapped Westfield State's six-game winning streak with an 86-78 victory in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game from Worcester, Mass. on Wednesday night.
The Owls drop their first conference game of the season, moving to 11-5 overall and 2-1 in the conference. The Lancers improve to 8-6 on the season and 3-0 in the MASCAC.
Juju Omot (Springfield, Mass.) led Westfield with 24 points and added eight rebounds. Lid Moreland (Bridgeport, Conn.) tacked on 15 points and pulled down seven rebounds, and Doug Alves (Taunton, Mass.) was the third Owls player in double figures with ten points.
Rubenskas and Aaron Nkrumah (Worcester, Mass.) combined for 55 of the Lancers 86 points with Nkrumah logging a double-double with 22 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Sam Dion (Barre, Mass.) scored 11 points.
Westfield got out to an early lead after Moreland buried a pair of threes on consecutive possessions then Omot spun home a layup to open up a 15-9 lead with 15 minutes left in the half. Andre Hairston (Long Island, N.Y.) split a pair of free throws to extend the lead to seven before the Lancers went on a 7-0 scoring run to tie the game with just over 13 minutes to play in the first half.
The lead changed hands nine separate times in the opening 20 minutes with Worcester tallying eight unanswered points to close the half capped by a Rubenskas three-point play to give the Lancers a 44-41 lead at halftime.
Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass.) started the second half scoring with a layup before another run of seven straight points from Worcester gave the Lancers an eight-point lead in the early stages of the half with a layup from Zion Hendrix (Charlotte, N.C.) making it a 51-43 Worcester lead.
The Owls would chip away at the deficit on multiple occasions, including seven-straight points from Dom Strother (Edinburg, Va.) which included a corner triple to shave the Lancers lead to four points with 14:16 left in the game.
Dion and Rubenskas both hit two free throws and then each tacked on layups to open up a 12-point Worcester lead over the halfway point in the second period, punctuating an 8-0 burst.
Westfield would get no closer than seven points for the rest of the way with the Lancers using Rubenskas and Nkrumah to fuel the scoring down the stretch.
Worcester feasted off of Owls turnovers as the Lancers held a staggering 31-3 advantage in points off turnovers. The Owls had 17 turnovers to the Lancers eight.
Westfield State will return home to face Fitchburg State on Saturday afternoon from the Woodward Center at 12:00 P.M.