By Jim Fenton

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's basketball team was denied the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference championship in painful fashion.

The Bears were on the verge of winning their first MASCAC title since 2018 at the end of regulation and again just before the buzzer in overtime, but were stunned by Worcester State University on both occasions.

Graduate student Sam Davies (Worcester, Mass.) made a driving layup with 1.1 seconds left in OT, giving the Lancers their second straight conference championship, 80-79, at the John Brissette Court on Saturday afternoon.

Second-seeded BSU had held a 72-69 lead in the final seconds of regulation, only to have Davies make a long 3-pointer with four seconds to go, sending the game into an extra session.

The Bears (who finished 14-12) took a 79-78 lead with 46.8 seconds remaining in OT on a three-point play by senior Precious Okoh (Brockton, Mass.).

Sophomore Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) then stole a pass with 22 seconds left, but BSU missed two layups off a fast break, then a putback was disallowed because of a questionable offensive goaltending call with 17.4 seconds remaining.

The top-seeded Lancers (18-9) worked the clock down and Davies drove from the right into the lane where he made the championship-winning layup just before the buzzer.

Okoh led BSU with 22 points and nine rebounds while graduate student Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) had 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Senior Justin Parsons (Portsmouth, R.I.) contributed 11 points while Kikuba had nine points, six rebounds and five assists and freshman Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.) added nine points and eight rebounds.

The Bears had opened a 13-point lead in the first minute of the second half.

Worcester State, which will play in the NCAA Division 3 tournament next weekend, received a double-double from Ryan Rubenskas (Bridgewater, Mass.) with 22 points on 10-for-16 shooting) and 13 rebounds. Rubenskas was named the tournament MVP.

Brandon Goris (Bronx, N.Y.) was 9-for-13 and scored 19 points and Aaron Nkrumah (Worcester, Mass.) had 15 points, six rebounds and five assists before fouling out in the second half. Davies finished with 11 points, including the two clutch baskets.

The OT period began with the game tied, 72-72, and BSU did not have its first lead of the extra session until Okoh scored on a pullup and converted the three-point play in the final minute for the 79-78 lead.

Worcester State had taken a 78-74 lead on a 3-pointer that was banked in by Zion Hendrix (Charlotte, N.C.) with 2:20 left. Campbell made two foul shots with 1:42 to go before Okoh's go-ahead three-point play.

The Bears held a 39-31 lead at halftime, then scored the first five points of the second half on a layup by Louis Jennings (Walpole, Mass.) and a 3-pointer by Kikuba, making it 44-31 with 19 minutes remaining.

Worcester State responded with a 10-0 run over 2:13, making five of six shots while the Bears missed three shots and had a pair of turnovers.

That put the Lancers within 44-41, and three straight Rubenskas baskets in 1:10 cut BSU's lead  to 55-53 with less than 10 minutes to go.

A Davies 3-pointer with 5:35 left put Worcester State in front, 62-61, giving the Lancers their first lead since it was 20-19 with 9:23 to go in the first half.

Halbleib scored on a dunk and Parsons made a 3-pointer as BSU went back on top, 66-62, with 4:20 left, but Nkrumah made a 3-pointer to cut that lead to 66-65 with 2:44 remaining.

After a drive by Kikuba, Rubenskas scored on a pair of dunks within 48 seconds, and the Lancers were up, 69-68, with 1:04 to go in regulation.

Okoh then made two free throws after being fouled on a drive with 43 seconds left for a 70-69 BSU lead. Worcester State missed a corner 3-pointer and Parsons gave the Bears a 72-69 advantage when he hit two free throws with 7.2 seconds to go.

That's when Davies saved the Lancers with his 3-pointer several feet behind the line to force OT.

Worcester State opened the game on a 10-2 run, but the Bears later went on a 17-4 run over 4:38 to go in front, 33-24, with 4:45 to go in the half. Okoh and Halbleib had five points each while Campbell scored three.

The Bears had only four turnovers in the first half with Okoh and Halbleib combining for 23 of the 39 points.

BSU committed 11 turnovers after the break, and Worcester State finished the game scoring 22 points off turnovers.

This was the second overtime game of the season for the Bears, who played an extra five minutes in the second opener, a 119-110 win over Anna Maria.

Worcester State now has three MASCAC championships. BSU was seeking its eighth title. The Lancers and Bears had split their season series.