Racette’s clutch three propels Men’s Basketball to overtime win at Elms

Chicopee, MA- Reece Racette's buzzer beating 3-pointer at the end of regulation forced overtime as MCLA was able to walk away from Picknelly Arena with an 82-74 nonconference victory over Elms College tonight. With the win MCLA improves to 3-4 while Elms falls to 1-4.

MCLA would carry most of the play in the first half jumping out to an early 9-2 advantage and stretching their lead to as many as seventeen when JoJo Garcia drained a 3-pointer with 2:47 left in the half. Elms would narrow the gap to 41-28 heading into the locker room.

The Trailblazers looked like they were in control midway through the second half when an Amon Moore tip-in pushed the MCLA lead back up to seventeen at 59-42. But the Blazers wouldn't go away and over the next seven minutes went on an impressive 22-5 run to catch MCLA on a Jake Midura 3-pointer with 2:56 left in the second half, 64-64.

Both teams would exchange several empty possessions before two Teron Griffin free throws would put Elms up by a pair, and after MCLA came up empty again, teammate Tahquell Cadle's two free throws gave the home team a 68-64 lead with :33 seconds left to play.

On MCLA's next trip Korey Greenland would cut the lead to one hitting a 3-pointer with :27 seconds left. Forced to foul, the Trailblazers would send RJ Mayfield to the line where he hit one of two to give Elms a 70-67 lead with :12 seconds to go.

After an Elms foul, MCLA would take the ball out of bounds on the baseline with :02 seconds left on the clock. JoJo Garcia would find Reece Racette who let a 3-point shot fly and by the time it landed just after the buzzer went off, the game would be tied 70-70, and headed to overtime.

Racette would hit another big 3-ponter in overtime at the 3-minute mark to put MCLA up three and a Mamadou Diallo layup less than a minute later would push the Trailblazer lead to 77-72. Griffen would trim the lead to three with just over a minute and a half to play. That lead would hold for the next minute following a pair of Blazer missed 3-Point attempts that would have tied the game.

Dylan Morris-Gray, Garcia and Greenland would secure the game at the free throw line allowing MCLA to escape with the 82-74 decision.

Elms was led by Tahquell Cadle and Jaijaun Macklin with 14 point each, Klaytin Silva with 13 points and Midura and Griffin who both chipped in 10 points. Cadle also had a game-high 15 rebounds.

MCLA was led by Mamadou Diallo who had 14 points and 9 rebounds, Kumar Lewis and Morris-Gray who each had 11 points and Racette, who in addition to his game-tying three, finished with 10 points and 9 rebounds.

The Blazers shot 42.9% from the field but just 2-17 from 3-point territory. The Trailblazers shot just 38.7% from the field but did go 12-34 from beyond the arc and were able to force 20 turnovers.

Elms will next take the court a week from tonight when they travel to Trinity (CT) for a 7:30pm nonconference matchup. MCLA returns to action tomorrow at 5pm when they'll take on #6 ranked Williams College.