After school record 20 wins, Worcester State men's basketball team looks to finish historic run
The disappointment of losing in the last two MASCAC Tournament finals has lingered for Worcester State junior guard Sam Dion, but he and his teammates are ready to make another run at the conference championship.
The Lancers, who made history as the program’s first 20-win team this year, went 12-0 against MASCAC foes to capture the regular-season title and top seed in this week’s tourney. Worcester State (20-5) hosts Fitchburg State in a semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday at Brissette Court.
“(Coming up short in the last two finals) motivates us a lot,” said Dion, the former Wachusett Regional star from Barre, before Monday’s practice. “We just want to win.”
Worcester State shared the 2019-20 regular-season MASCAC title with Westfield State and fell to the Owls, 81-77, in the tournament final. COVID wiped out the 2020-21 MASCAC season. Last year, the Lancers advanced to the championship game as the No. 3 seed, and lost to Westfield State, 80-66.
The Lancers enter this year’s tourney as the favorite.
“I think we are best team in the conference,” graduate center Erik Bjorn of Holden and Wachusett Regional said. “We just have to prove it.”
Fifth-year Worcester State coach Tyler Hundley thought going into this season that his team had the pieces to be successful, and possibly take that next step. The Lancers’ preseason initiative and dedication reinforced Hundley’s belief.
“There was a clear difference in how serious they took it,” Hundley said. “That’s part of the reason why we are where we are.”
Talented forward Aaron Nkrumah, the former South High standout, was a significant all-around addition to the Worcester State roster.
The 6-foot-6 Nkrumah, a T&G Super Team selection his senior year at South, prepped for a year at Marianapolis and spent a semester at Nichols before transferring to Worcester State. He’s averaging a team-high 17.3 points per game.
Hundley and his staff recruited Nkrumah when he was at South.
“They kept tabs on me,” Nkrumah said, “and it took some time, but I’m here. Everyone welcomed me with open arms, like a brotherhood. It felt like a good fit for me as soon as I got here.”
Nkrumah leads the MASCAC in points (399) and steals (64).
“Aaron is a game changer for sure,” Dion said. “When he’s at his best, there’s not a player in the league that can stop him.”
Nkrumah scored a career-high 30 points in a win at Bridgewater State early this month, and he has scored 20 or more points nine times.
Nkrumah’s length and athleticism have bolstered the Lancers at the defensive end, where they have made their mark this season.
Worcester State leads the MASCAC in scoring defense (68.9 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.382).
“Statistically,” Hundley said, “we have consistently held teams below their averages. We try to take away option A from everybody. We’ve done a good job of that, and it takes a collective effort to do that.”
Under Hundley, Worcester State has traditionally played a difficult nonconference schedule, which has benefited the Lancers.
“I think just going through the ups and downs of nonconference helped us realize what’s important and what the key to winning is,” Hundley said.
Worcester State opened the year with a two-point loss to nationally ranked WPI, the NEWMAC regular-season champion. The Lancers haven’t lost since Dec. 16, in an 84-73 setback to Wentworth.
“Every season is different,” Bjorn said. “You start out getting to know your teammates and feeling things out and seeing what works, and, for us, it’s been pretty much defense. Limiting teams to below their scoring average, slowing teams down and taking them out of their game has been key.”
Worcester State was the first MASCAC team to go 12-0 in conference play since Salem State in 2017-18.
“We have a good feeling about this,” Nkrumah said. “We feel like we have something going for ourselves. We just have to stay locked in.”
Defense key for success of WPI men's basketball team
The regular-season NEWMAC champion WPI men’s basketball team leads all NCAA divisions in scoring defense, and tops the NEWMAC in field goal percentage defense and 3-point field goal percentage defense.
“You have to really like our commitment defensively,” said WPI coach Chris Bartley, who has guided the No. 21 Engineers to their 16th 20-win season in his 22 years at WPI. “You look at our efficiency defensively, and we’re not allowing a ton of second shots. We’re a really sound defensive team. When we play well offensively, which has been a little more spotty, we’ve been really good.”
Top-seeded WPI rides a 21-3 record into the NEWMAC tourney, which began Tuesday night. The Engineers host Clark in a semifinal at 7 p.m. Thursday at Harrington Auditorium.
WPI repeated as the conference regular-season champion, and the Engineers look to make it back-to-back tourney titles, too.
Last season, WPI set a program record with 27 wins and advanced to the NCAA Division 3 Tournament Elite Eight.
“This is the 12th time we’ve earned the No. 1 seed (in the NEWMAC tourney),” Bartley said. “It doesn’t guarantee you anything, that’s for sure.”
WPI’s only regular-season conference loss was at Emerson on Feb. 1. The Engineers have since won five straight.
WPI finished the regular season with convincing wins over Wheaton and Clark. Earlier in the year, Clark led WPI by four with 4 minutes left, before the Engineers pulled away with a 13-1 run. Similarly, Wheaton controlled the first 30 minutes of the teams’ January matchup, but the Engineers used an 11-0 spurt to gain momentum midway through the second half.
Last week, WPI registered a 20-point win over Wheaton and beat Clark by 30.
“You take the experience from playing the teams,” Bartley said, “and hopefully our guys have a good sense of what we need to do defensively and offensively, but you throw out the results because everyone is 0-0 right now.
“But we’re excited,” Bartley said. “We’re happy to be at home. It’s obviously a recognition of the hard work these guys put in to earn that No. 1 seed.”
Head of the Class
Quinsigamond freshman Sean Manning of Grafton scored 43 points and set a program record with 10 made 3-pointers to lead the Wyverns to a 95-84 win over Springfield Tech. QCC finished the regular season 14-10, and earned the No. 7 seed in the upcoming Region 21/East District Tournament. The Wyverns will play at No. 2 seed Quincy College in a quarterfinal game March 4.
WPI junior John Adams of Douglas averaged nine rebounds and led a defensive effort that held a pair of NEWMAC foes to season-low point totals during a 2-0 week.
Assumption senior guard Ja’Lyn Armstrong averaged 17 points on 82.4% field goal shooting to lead the No. 23 Greyhounds to a 2-0 week and a first-round bye in the upcoming Northeast-10 Conference Tournament.
Fitchburg State senior forward Anthony Ceolin scored four goals and added four assists in the men’s ice hockey team’s 1-1 week.
UMass softball freshman Natalee Horton, the former St. Paul ace from Worcester, earned her first collegiate win with a five-hit shutout against North Dakota. Horton struck out five and did not walk a batter to lead UMass to a 2-0 victory at the Charleston Southern Tournament.
Boston University freshman pitcher Kasey Ricard of Littleton earned two wins while posting a 1.83 ERA and striking out 18 in 15-1/3 innings. She held opposing batters to a .228 average.
Franklin Pierce junior infielder Haley Bigwood of Athol batted .333 with a home run, 3 doubles and 8 RBIs as the Ravens’ softball team opened the season 3-1.
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTolandTG.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester State University men's basketball team ready for postseason run
