Lancers Snap Viking's Win Streak

WORCESTER, Mass. – Salem State men's basketball found themselves back on the road today as they traveled to Worcester to take on the Lancers of Worcester State University for a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) matchup. After 40 minutes of action, the Lancers were able to snap the Vikings three-game win streak after being handed the 80-71 loss in Worcester, dropping them to 3-4 in MASCAC play.

The Vikings were paced by Conner Byrne's (Melrose, Mass.) double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds and Juvens Louis (Everett, Mass.) 18 points off the bench. Jaden Castillo (Lawrence, Mass.) and Jarret Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) each added 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the effort.

On the other side, Aaron Nkruham (Worcester, Mass.) notched 20 points and 16 rebounds for a double-double, while Erik Bjorn (Holden, Mass.) netted 13 of his own in the Lancer's victory.

How it Happened:

• After a slow start to the action, both squads found themselves in a 12-12 stalemate after C. Byrne converted a layup at the 12:52 mark. Over the next six minutes, Worcester and Salem would exchange the lead five times before the Lancers found their footing to go on a 10-0 run to take the 28-22 edge with six minutes to play in the half.
• With the clock reading 4:13, the Vikings cut the Lancers lead to two points (28-26) before another Worcester State run put the home team ahead by a tally of six (32-26). Salem was able to make it a one-point game with 75 ticks on the clock before the Lancers closed out the half on a 5-2 run to head into the break with the slight 37-33 edge.
• The Lancers came out of halftime with back-to-back triples to jump out to the 10-point lead (43-33), marking the first double-digit advantage of the game by either side. The Lancers would not hold the double-digit lead for long though, as a perfect trip to the charity stripe from J. Byrne and an easy-two from Castillo would put the Vikings back in striking distance (43-37).
• Just under the halfway mark of the second, the Vikings were able to find themselves within three points of the home team after C. Byrne put an exclamation point on an offensive board before a Javier Osorio (Pittsfield, Mass.) layup brought the score to 55-52, which proved to be the closest Salem has come to the home team of the half thus far.
• After struggling to regain their double-digit cushion, the Lancers finally found themselves up by a tally of 10 after a layup put them ahead 74-64 with just over a minute to play. From there the Lancers used the final 60 seconds to solidify their victory from the free throw line, as three perfect trips carried them to the 80-71 win over the Vikings.