PAXTON, Mass.- Junior Maurice Horton (Detroit, Mich.) led all players with 18 points and 12 rebounds to spark the Worcester State men’s basketball team to a 76-66 victory over Anna Maria on Tuesday night at the Fuller Activities Center.

 

From the start it was evident that the Lancers and AMCATS were evenly matched. The first half was tightly contested and saw six ties and seven lead changes. AMC outshot Worcester State 59.3% to 37.8% in the half and went into the locker room with a 37-34 advantage. The Lancers were able to hang close by converting 13 AMC turnovers into 18 points.

 

The second half saw seven lead changes as well, as both teams continued to trade punches. After a layup by sophomore Ryan Joyal (Marlboro, Mass.) at 12:48 the AMCATS held a seven-point lead with the score 53-46. The Lancers wouldn’t go away easily and rallied back to tie the score at 62-all on a layup by junior Kevin Gena (Lynn, Mass.). Gena would steal the ball on the very next possession and lay it in at the other end to give Worcester State the lead for good. The Lancers pulled away to end the game on an 18-4 run and capture a 76-66 victory.

 

Points off of turnovers turned out to be key difference in the game with Worcester State outscoring the AMCATS 29-8.

 

Horton’s double-double paced the Lancers while Patrick Hamilton (Templeton, Mass.), Brandon Fortes (Pawtucket, R.I.), and Kevin Gena all contributed double figures with 15, 12, and 12, respectively.

 

Sophomore Derek Johnson (Worcester, Mass.) led the AMCATS with a team-high 15 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Brad Peterson chipped in with 12 points and five boards while sophomore Junior De La Hoz (Lawerence, Mass.) had 10 points and four assists in the tough loss.

 

The win improves the Lancers’ overall record to 6-5 on the season. Worcester State will take the court again on Thursday when they travel to take on Salve Regina. The AMCATS now drop to 3-9 on the year and will also return to action against Salve Regina at the Fuller Activities Center on Saturday.

 

Freshman forward Brad Peterson (North Kingstown, R.I.) knocked down an 18-foot jump shot at the buzzer to propel the Anna Maria College men’s basketball team to a 57-55 victory over Wheelock College during the consolation game of the Middletown Tournament on Saturday afternoon. The win avenged a loss to Wheelock earlier this season and ended a six-game losing skid for the AMCATS.  

 

Peterson collected a double-double with a team-high 13 points to go along with 11 rebounds in the much-needed win. The freshman averaged 8.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game during the Tournament and was selected as a member of the All-Tournament Team.

 

Anna Maria led nearly the entire game, jumping out to a quick 11-4 lead and holding a 32-28 edge at the break.  Wheelock took its first lead since scoring the opening basket of the game at 14:45 of the second half when freshman Kyle Pierce hit a bucket for a 38-36 Wildcat lead. The AMCATS responded by scoring the next 11 points over a span of 6:40 to open up a 47-38 advantage.  The next five minutes belonged to Wheelock as the Wildcats tied the game at 52-52 on a basket by freshman Victor Kashouh with three minutes remaining.  Sophomore Tyler Washington hit a free throw for Anna Maria for a 53-52 lead before a pair of free throws from Wheelock’s junior Sherard Robbins, who led his squad with 16 points and 12 rebounds for a spot on the all-tournament team, gave the Wildcats their final lead at 54-53 with 1:36 left.  After sophomore David Tavares made it 55-53 at 1:21 with a free throw, the next two free throws came from Anna Maria sophomore Ryan Joyal, one at 1:06 and the tying point at :36.  Peterson then made his presence felt as he came up with a big steal near midcourt as time was winding down, giving Anna Maria the ball with :02.8 to go.  After a series of timeouts, Peterson received the inbounds pass, took a couple of dribbles and launched a high-arcing shot that hit nothing but net at the buzzer sounded.

 

Wheelock drops to 2-7 on the season and will return to the court at Framingham State on Wednesday. With the win, the AMCATS are now 3-8 overall on the season. AMC will look to keep things going when they host Worcester State on Tuesday at the Fuller Activities Center.

 

Release Courtesy of Wesleyan Sports Information

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to have one of our coaches contact you.