Men's Basketball Falls in MASCAC Title Tilt, 73-71 to Worcester State

WESTFIELD., Mass. –   Worcester State University freshman Joe Okla scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Worcester State to the 2026 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship with a 73-71 win over host Westfield State in the title game at the Woodward Center on Sunday afternoon.

Westfield led 68-67 after a Kenney Rogers layup with 2:09 left to play.

The Lancers got a layup from Johnny Annan on an inbounds feed from Jaydon Buckle to take a 69-68 advantage with one minute left in regulation time.

Westfield had a chance to answer, but the Owls turned the ball over on the ensuing possession as Buckle slapped it away, and players from both teams went to the floor after the loose ball, with neither able to corral it and the Lancers regained possession when the ball went out of bounds with 12 seconds left   Okla drove to the hoop and was fouled and connected on both to give Worcester a 71-68 lead.

Worcester got a stop on the defensive end, and the Owls fouled Buckle, who went to the line and made both for a 73-68 lead with 4.1 seconds left.   Worcester relaxed on defense with a two-possession lead, and Westfield's Jason James banked in a three-pointer from midcourt to trim the lead to two, 73-71, and on the inbounds, the Owls managed a foul with 1/10^th of a second left on the clock.

Johnny Annan missed both free throws, but Buckle grabbed the offensive board as time expired to seal the win.

The Lancers (15-12) earned the MASCAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  The Lancers, who entered the MASCAC tournament as the #2 seed, will learn their opponent and destination in the NCAA Division III Tournament Monday at 1:00 p.m. on the NCAA.com livestream selection show.

Daniel Wondie and Annan led the Lancers with 16 points each.  Annan grabbed seven rebounds and blocked four shots. Buckle added 11 points and six assists.

Westfield was led by 24 points from Kenney Rogers.    James and A.Z. Allah each scored 15 points, with Allah adding seven rebounds. Xavier Lewis finished with 12 and senior center Joe Thomson grabbed a game high 18 rebounds and blocked three shots.

Worcester jumped out of the gate fast, leading 13-3 after five minutes, consistently attacking the hoop.

Westfield stemmed the tide with a long three-pointer from Rogers at the 14-11 mark.  The lead traded hands regularly, and the Lancers led 33-30 after a jumper from Ethan Daleba with 1:43 left, but Westfield closed the half with an 8-0 run, sparked by a steal from Thomson that led to an Allah layup, and a blocked shot from Thomson led to another possession that Lewis closed with a layup to lead 38-30 at the half.

Westfield bumped the lead out to 10 points, 59-49 on an Allah layup with 9:10 to play.

After trading possessions, the Lancers got a baseline dunk from Annan to cut the lead back to single digits.  The Lancers ground their way back into the game, trimming the lead to one point, 66-65 when Daniel Wondie was fouled on a three-point shot, and added the free throw for a four point play with 3:02 left in regulation.

The two teams were meeting in the conference finals for the fourth time in the last six seasons – Worcester evened the finals at 2 wins each.

The Owls season ends with a 21-6 record, tying for the fourth-most wins in a season in program history, a year that saw Owls' coach Rich Sutter win his 400^th career game, and Rogers poured in 543 points in his sophomore season, and now has 1,060 in his two-year career as an Owl, ranking 22^nd on the Owls career scoring list.  Thomson is the lone senior on the Owls roster, he has eligibility remaining should he opt to return to school next year.