WESTFIELD, Masss. -- Aaron Nkrumah scored 36 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead Worcester State as the Lancers rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final 1:09 to defeat Westfield State, 81-80, in a key MASCAC conference matchup at the Woodward Center on Saturday afternoon.
Worcester improves to 13-8, 7-1 in the MASCAC and holds the league lead. The Owls slip to 14-7 overall and 6-3 in the MASCAC. The Owls slip to third place in the conference standings with the loss.
Westfield led by 11, 79-68 after Brendan Keaveny scored on a breakaway layup with 1:43 left in regulation time, but the Lancers rallied from there, closing the game on a 13-1 run, sparked by a three-pointer from Nkrumah to trim it to 79-71 with 1:29 left.
Brandon Goris made one of two free throws for the Lancers, but Worcester rebounded the miss on the second shot, with Ryan Rubenskas converting a layup to get the lead down to five.
After Westfield's Juju Omot went 1-2 at the line, Sam Dion delivered back-to-back buckets on a three pointer and a long two, which trimmed the Westfield lead to 80-79.
The Owls missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity for the second time in the closing minute, and Zion Hendrix scored on a driving layup with eight seconds left to give Worcester its first lead of the second half, 81-80.
Westfield advanced the ball to half court and called timeout with 5.6 to play, but on the ensuing play, the Owls turned it over in the closing seconds with Goris coming up with a steal as time expired to secure the win for the Lancers
Nkrumah, the reigning conference player of the year, finished with 36 points on 11-24 shooting, 6-14 from long range, and was 8 of 11 at the foul line. Rubenskas finished with 14 points and seven rebounds while battling foul trouble throughout the game. Dion finished with 10 points, four rebounds and five steals.
Brendan Keaveny and Kuany Teng each scored 16 points to lead the Owls. Keaveny came off the bench to spark the Owls in the second half, finishing 6-8 from the floor and 3-3 on three point tries.
Westfield led 39-29 at the half. Hamilton and Keaveny each had eight to lead the Owls. Hamilton grabbed 10 rebounds before the break, while Nkrumah led Worcester with 10 points and five rebounds.
Worcester opened the second half with a steal and three pointer from Sam Dion to trim the lead to 39-32. Nkrumah made back to back three's and was fouled by Omot, completing the four-point play to further trim the lead to 39-36.
Owls answered with back-to-back buckets including a fast break dunk from Dom Strother. Holding a three-point lead midway through the second half, Westfield got some breathing room with four straight made free throws, after a personal and a technical foul on the Lancers at the 8:12 mark.
Nkrumah proceded to drain three straight three pointers to even the game at 62-all with 6:52 left in the game.
Keaveny buried back to back three pointers at th 6:13 mark to push the Owls lead back to 11. Westfield led 79-68 after Keaveny's layup with 1:47 left in the game before the Lancers closed the game on a 13-1 run.
Westfield will travel to Fitchburg on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. tip off. The Lancers will travel to Bridgewater for a 7:30 p.m. tip on Wednesday evening.