MCLA falls to Keene State 96-78

North Adams, MA- The MCLA Men's Basketball team fell to visiting Keene State 96-78 this evening at the Amsler Campus Center.  With the loss, MCLA drops to 4-4, while Keene improves to 4-5.

Keene ran out to a comfortable 53-49 advantage at the half behind strong performances from Derek D'Amours and Matt Petruzzelli.  D'Amours poured in 12 points knocking down a pair of triples in the process.  Petruzzelli added ten points as well as a couple of three's. 

MCLA was plagued by first half foul trouble as both sophomore Chris Harris (Dorchester, MA) and Jon Greenberg (Antwerp, Belgium) were saddled with a pair of fouls. 

The second half saw the Owls maintain a comfortable lead as the Trailblazers would get no closer than eleven points on a pair of Greenberg free throws at the eight minute mark.  MCLA was plagued by turnovers all night long as they committed 22 on the evening.

Keene placed five players in double figures led by D'Amours with 19.  Tyler Grillo (18), Eric Fazio (17), Cody Snow (14), and Petruzzelli (12) were the others to post double figures. 

Greenberg once again led MCLA with a double double of 19 points and 11 boards before eventually fouling out.  Three other Trailblazers notched double digits with freshman Bilal Shabazz (11), Harris (10), and senior Karl Sims (Detroit, MI) rounding out the scoring. Shabazz also tallied four steals and three assists on the night.

MCLA returns to action this weekend when they travel to Johnson State on Saturday.