WORCESTER, Mass. -- Third-seeded Worcester State University posted a 79-53 victory over #6 seed Bridgewater State University in the opening round of the 2022 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night at Brissette Court.

The Lancers (15-11) advance to the MASCAC semifinals and will travel to #2 seed Salem State on Thursday evening. The Bears end the year with an overall record of 4-19.

Senior guard Tyler Spencer (Pembroke, Mass.) hit a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give the Lancers a five-point lead at the break, and they carried that momentum into the second half, where they held the Bears to under 30% shooting while hitting 17-for-38 from the floor and 6-for-14 from three.

Senior guard Zion Hendrix (Charlotte, N.C.) had 15 points, nine of them in the second half, and dished out a team high five assists. Senior center Erik Bjorn (Holden, Mass.) had a double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds, and all five starters were in double figures for the Lancers.

Worcester used a 7-0 run early in the second half to stretch their lead to 12 points, capped by another triple by Spencer.

Junior guard Tayjaun McKenzie (Boston, Mass.) got in on the action with a pair of second half three-pointers, the second of which extended the lead back to double-digits after the Bears had cut it to six on a layup by junior center Max Schraut (Abington, Mass.).

That three was part of another run by the Lancers, this time a 9-0 run that stretched the lead back to 62-47. It reached 20 points with 4:55 to play on a steal and fast break layup by junior guard Sam Dion (Barre, Mass.), who had four thefts in the game, to go with four assists and 11 points.

A Hendrix theft led to another three by Dion, and the lead was 25, 74-49, with just 3:11 to play.

Bridgewater had three players in double-figures, led by the bench contributions of sophomore guard Justin Parsons (Portsmouth, R.I.) and sophomore forward Chibueze Chukwuezi (Attleboro, Mass.). Parsons had 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting, including 3-for-6 from three-point land, though the rest of the team went just 3-14 from behind the arc.

Chukwuezi added 12 points and grabbed six rebounds, while freshman guard Quinton Champagne (Wrentham, Mass.) scored 11 points and filled the stat sheet with four rebounds, three assists and a block.

Sophomore center Ryan Rubenskas (Bridgewater, Mass.) scored 14 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds, along with three assists, two steals and a block.

The Lancers are back in the MASCAC semifinals for the second straight season after reaching the MASCAC championship game in 2019-20. The 2020-2021 season was cancelled due to the pandemic.