Salve Regina marched out to a, 36-30, halftime lead behind the shooting of senior guard Matt Coute (Somerset, MA) who shot 7 for 12 from the field including a perfect 3 of 3 from behind the arc to tally 17 first half points. Salve shot a strong 48.4% from the filed in the first stanza. Worcester State was paced by senior guards Tyson Drayton (Roxbury, MA) and Ryan Hopkins (Oxford, MA) who scored 9 and 8 points respectively.
Salve opened the second half with a 10-0 burst over the first 2:13 of the second half to open up a 16 point lead, 46-30. After a Worcester State timeout and a mass substitution, the Lancers answered with an 11-0 run to whittle the Salve Regina lead to 5 points. The Lancers finally tied the game at, 61-61, for the first of what would eventually be five times over the final 4 minutes of regulation. Drayton gave the Lancers a, 69-67, lead with a lay up with 36 seconds remaining. After a missed Seahawk jumper the Lancers missed two free throws and committed a costly foul trying to grab the offensive rebound on the second miss. Grendal hit two free throws to send the game to overtime and set the stage for his heroics.
Drayton led the way for the Lancers with 21 points on the night. Mark Retallic (Oxford, MA) finished with 12 and Hopkins added 11. Coute finished with a team high 21 points for Salve Regina while sophomore Steve Walsh (Manchester, NH) and Grendal totaled 14 and 12 points respectively.
Worcester State returns to action on Saturday as they travel to SUNY-Potsdam. Salve Regina will travel to Nichols College on Saturday.
Newspaper Box Score Salve Regina University vs Worcester State 1/5/06 7:00 pm at Worcester, MA At Worcester, MA SALVE REGINA UNIVERSITY 77, WORCESTER STATE 75 SALVE REGINA UNIVERSITY (7-3) Matt Coute 8-21 1-2 21; Steve Walsh 6-6 2-2 14; Matt Grendal 4-7 4-4 12; Chris Goodridge 2-6 4-6 9; Justin Woodworth 2-9 2-2 8; Andrew Rego 3-6 0-0 7; Jon Hazzard 3-7 0-1 6; Jay Pallotti 0-0 0-0 0; Quinn O'Brien 0-0 0-0 0; Joe DeSantis 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-64 13-17 77. WORCESTER STATE (4-5) Tyson Drayton 9-21 3-5 21; Mark Retallic 6-7 0-0 12; Ryan Hopkins 4-8 3-5 11; Randy Gratton 4-5 0-0 8; Devon Jarvis 3-6 0-0 6; Will Spont 2-8 1-2 5; Winfred Rembert 2-2 1-3 5; Ralph Frazier 2-7 0-2 4; Chris Frulla 1-2 0-0 3; Tyler Hopkins 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 33-68 8-17 75. Salve Regina University....... 36 33 8 - 77 Worcester State............... 30 39 6 - 75 3-point goals-Salve Regina University 8-16 (Matt Coute 4-7; Justin Woodworth 2-4; Chris Goodridge 1-1; Andrew Rego 1-1; Joe DeSantis 0-2; Jon Hazzard 0-1), Worcester State 1-14 (Chris Frulla 1-2; Ryan Hopkins 0-2; Randy Gratton 0-1; Will Spont 0-3; Ralph Frazier 0-1; Tyler Hopkins 0-1; Tyson Drayton 0-4). Fouled out--Salve Regina University-Steve Walsh, Worcester State-None. Rebounds-Salve Regina University 33 (Matt Coute 6), Worcester State 44 (Will Spont 7). Assists-Salve Regina University 16 (Chris Goodridge 5), Worcester State 14 (Ryan Hopkins 4). Total fouls-Salve Regina University 21, Worcester State 18. A-100