The upset victory by No. 4 seed Worcester State (13-13) propelled it into the conference championship game vs. Bridgewater State, which defeated Salem State, 85-71, in the other semifinal. The championship game will be played at Westfield State on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 2:00 p.m.
“That was a good as we could possibly play, especially on defense,” said Worcester State head coach Dave Lindberg, whose team split its regular season series with Westfield. “It was a huge defensive effort; that was a key to winning the game.”
Westfield State finishes its season with an 18-8 record. The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak.
“It was a tough way to end the season,” said Westfield State head coach Rich Sutter. “We didn’t play well in any area; we didn’t shoot well and we didn’t have enough intensity ondefense. We had to play better on both sides of the ball and we didn’t.”
Hopkins was nearly unstoppable and he was the only Worcester player to score in double figures. He was 9 for 20 from the field and 11 for 12 from the foul line. He scored 21 of his points in the second half, including 13 straight during a key four-minute stretch.
“Ryan played outstanding, like a senior who didn’t want this to be his last game,” said Lindberg.
The Owls could never get untracked in the first half as they shot 26 percent from the field and trailed at the intermission, 33-17.
Worcester State also got off the a slow start, trailing 2-0 five and a half minutes into the game. The Lancers then went on an 11-0 run for an 11-2 lead with 12:30 remaining.
Worcester built its lead to 24-8 with 7:04 remaining, then the teams played on even terms the remainder of the half.
The Lancers took a 20-point lead, 37-17, early in the second half before the Owls finally got untracked. Westfield cut the lead to nine points, 42-33, with 11:13 remaining. But Hopkins thwarted the comeback by scoring 13 straight points over the next four minutes as the Lancers took a 17-point lead, 55-38, with 7:12 remaining.
Sophomore guard Will Spont (Bellingham) scored eight points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for the Lancers, who shot 43 percent from the field and were 20 of 26 from the foul line. Worcester also outrebounded Westfield, 53-34.
Junior forward Curtis Gadles scored a team-high 13 for the Owls, who only shot 30 percent.